1CT 


$ 


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THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


HIWA 

A  TALE  OF 
ANCIENT 
HAWAII 


EDMUND 
P.     DOLE 


HARPER  & 
BROTHERS 
NEW  YORK  AND 
LONDON  MGM 


Copyright,  1900,  by  EDMUND  P.  DOLE. 

Alt  fightt  rtMntd. 


PS 
3507 


TO 


SANFORD  BALLARD  DOLE 


1607503 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Ku  is  AVENGED 1 

II.  THE  Vow 8 

III.  A  ROYAL  MARRIAGE 11 

IV.  THE  RESCUE  OP  THE  BOAT 17 

V.  TRAINING  A  WARRIOR 28 

VI.  HIWA'S  VISIT 88 

VII.  HIWA'S  TEACHINGS 44 

VIII.  MANOA 51 

IX.  KAANAANA 66 

X.  "THE   THUNDERBOLT   is   SWIFTER   THAN 

THE  THUNDER" 71 

XI.  OVER  THE  MOUNTAINS 78 

XII.  THE  BATTLE 84 

XIII.  THE  SACRIFICE 91 

GLOSSARY    .                          99 


HIWA 


A    TALE    OF    ANCIENT 
HAWAII 


CHAPTER  I 
KU    IS    AVENGED 

JIIE  first  glimmering  of  dawn 
rested  on  Waipio  Yalley. 
The  moi  kane,  his  great  no 
bles  and  chief  officers  of 
state,  his  personal  attend 
ants,  his  guards,  heralds, 
priests,  diviners,  bards,  story-tellers,  dancers, 
and  buffoons,  the  whole  aialo,  even  to  the 
lowest  menials  of  the  court,  slept  the  deep 
sleep  that  follows  a  night  of  heavy  eating 
and  heavier  drinking.  All  slept  except  Aa, 
the  terrible  high-priest,  and  a  few  score  men 

A  1 


IIIWA 

of  his  personal  following.  The  royal  city 
was  silent. 

It  lay  among  surroundings  both  lovely 
and  grand.  The  valley  itself,  only  a  few 
feet  above  sea -level  and  flat  as  a  Western 
prairie,  was,  then  as  now,  rich  almost  beyond 
exaggeration,  and  green  with  all  edible  prod 
ucts  of  the  lowlands.  It  was  thickly  dotted 
with  grass  huts,  for  in  those  times,  before 
the  great  wars  and  centuries  before  the 
white  strangers  came  with  their  loathsome 
diseases  that  consumed  flesh  and  bone,  the 
population  was  dense. 

The  valley  fronted  on  the  open  ocean,  un 
obstructed  by  land  for  thousands  of  miles. 
On  every  other  side  it  was  shut  in  by  rock 
walls  from  two  to  three  thousand  feet  high. 
At  the  southwest  extremity  the  Waipio  River, 
cold  from  the  mountain -side,  clear  and 
sparkling,  fell  six  hundred  feet  to  a  narrow 
shelf  of  rock,  and  then,  dropping  a  thousand 
feet  more  at  a  single  plunge,  suddenly  be 
came  a  sluggish  stream,  with  a  current  hard 
ly  perceptible,  winding  its  tortuous  way  to 
the  sea.  To  the  northwest  were  the  Saw- 
Teeth  of  the  Gods,  wild  and  picturesque 

2 


KU    IS    AVENGED 


verdure -clad  mountains  that  to  this  day 
form  impenetrable  barriers  between  the 
plantations  of  Hamakua  and  North  Kohala. 
To  the  southeast,  stretching  along  the  coast 
for  a  hundred  miles,  were  the  rich  highlands 
of  Hamakua,  Ililo  and  Puna,  rising,  ever 
rising,  as  they  recede  from  the  sea  until  they 
reach  the  dizzy  heights  of  Mauna  Kea,  and 
of  Mauna  Loa,  where  eternal  winter  wages 
intermittent  war  with  rock  fires  from  the 
bowels  of  the  earth. 

In  the  gray  twilight  of  that  morning,  cen 
turies  ago,  Eaeakai  paddled  his  fishing-canoe 
down  the  "Waipio  Eiver  and  up  the  coast, 
straight  to  the  Saw-Teeth  of  the  Gods.  In 
the  early  morning  there  was  good  fishing 
opposite  those  stupendous  cliffs,  and  Eaeakai 
had  taken  to  himself  a  buxom  loahine,  Avho 
could  not  live  on  love  alone  any  more  than 
if  she  were  a  haole  bride,  but  had  to  have 
her  fish  and  poi.  He  was  also  in  daily  ex 
pectation  of  another  responsibility.  Thus 
far  there  had  always  been  fish  and  poi  in 
his  hut,  for  he  was  industrious  and  thrifty, 
rich  for  a  landless  freeman,  kanaka-wale,  as 
his  kaitkeld  or  single  dug-out  was  the  trim- 


HIWA 

mest  and  swiftest  on  all  the  Windward 
Coast.  Best  of  all,  he  was  a  happy  man,  for 
he  was  very  much  in  love  with  his  own  wife. 
So  he  chanted  a  love  mcle  as  he  bent  to  his 
work. 

He  had  scarcely  reached  his  fishing-ground 
and  bated  his  turtle-shell  hook  when  he  heard 
a  rustling  sound  overhead.  As  he  looked  up 
he  caught  glimpses  through  the  dense  foliage 
of  a  woman,  in  the  garb  of  Eve,  rapidly 
making  her  way  down  the  steep  declivity, 
regardless  of  the  sharp  thorns  and  terrible 
lava  that  cut  and  tore  her  hands  and  feet 
and  body.  Yet,  in  spite  of  her  desperate 
haste,  and  at  the  peril  of  her  life,  she  firmly 
clutched  and  carefully  guarded  from  rock 
and  thorn  the  manio  which  royalty  alone 
might  wear  and  live. 

Eaeakai  gazed  for  a  moment,  dumb  and 
motionless  with  amazement.  Then  he  flung 
himself  upon  his  face,  crying,  "E  moe  o  !  E 
moe  o  !  Uiwa,  Moi  Wahine  /" 

Hiwa  gave  command  before  she  reached 
the  bottom  of  the  cliff — "  Fisherman,  bring 
me  the  boat !  Wiki  wild  !  Quick !" 

Kneeling  in  his  canoe,  Eaeakai  paddled 

4 


KU    IS    AVENGED 


to  the  shore  and  prostrated  himself  with  his 
face  to  the  ground,  for  well  he  knew  that 
by  Hawaiian  law  it  was  death  for  a  common 
man  like  him  to  stand  in  the  presence  or  in 
the  shadow  of  Hiwa,  alii-niaupio,  tabu  moi 
wakine,  goddess-queen. 

She  sprang  into  the  canoe,  seized  the 
paddle,  and  sped  up  the  coast. 

Eaeakai  lay  grovelling  on  the  ground  un 
til  she  was  a  goodly  distance  from  him. 
Then  he  sat  up  and  began  to  realize  that 
probably  he  was  ruined.  His  boat,  which 
made  him  the  envy  of  fishermen  for  fifty 
miles  around,  and  upon  which  he  had  spent 
months  of  patient  toil,  was  gone.  It  was 
his  pride,  his  wealtih,  his  livelihood.  Hiwa 
was  fleeing  from  enemies.  He  could  expect 
no  reward  if  she  should  escape  and  return  in 
triumph,  for  he  was  beneath  her  notice;  but, 
if  she  should  be  overtaken  and  slain,  the 
service  he  had  rendered  her  would  not  be 
forgiven.  The  boat  would  tell  the  story, 
and  he  would  be  hunted  down  and  killed  or 
offered  a  sacrifice  to  the  gods. 

Presently,  as  he  turned  his  eyes  in  the 
direction  of  his  home,  he  saw  a  great  war 
5 


IIIWA 

canoe  approaching.  He  hid  behind  a  rock 
and  watched  it.  He  counted  twenty-six 
warriors  at  the  paddles,  and  recognized  Aa, 
the  high-priest,  commanding  them.  They 
had  caught  sight  of  Ilhva,  and  were  doing 
their  utmost  to  overtake  her. 

Eaeakai  knew  that  an  heir  to  the  throne 
was  expected.  Who  in  all  the  land  did  not  ? 
"  If  it  were  not  for  her  condition,"  he  said 
to  himself,  "she  might  give  them  a  long 
chase ;  but  the  end  would  be  the  same." 

Her  enemies  rapidly  gained  on  her,  al 
though  she  handled  the  paddle  with  marvel 
ous  strength  and  skill,  and  she  seemed  to 
have  no  chance  of  escape.  Suddenly  she 
plunged  into  the  water  and  disappeared. 

Her  pursuers  hastened  to  the  spot.  One 
of  them  reached  out  to  save  the  boat,  a 
chattel  of  great  value  to  a  Hawaiian ;  but 
the  fanatical  high-priest  interposed.  "Let 
it  dash  itself  to  pieces  on  the  rocks!"  he 
exclaimed.  "  It  is  accursed !  Tab u  /" 

The  shore  at  that  point  was  a  traverse 
section  of  one  of  the  hu^e  Saw-Teeth,  rising 

O  "  O 

from  deep  water  nearly  perpendicularly  two 
thousand  feet  into  the  air.  No  living  creat- 

6 


KU    IS    AVENGED 


ure,  save  some  insect  or  reptile  that  clings 
to  the  bare  face  of  a  rock,  could  obtain  a 
foothold  there.  Hiwa  was  not  a  lizard  to 
cling  to  that  cliff,  and  if  she  were,  she  would 
be  in  plain  sight.  Neither  was  she  a  bird 
to  soar  above  and  beyond  it.  She  was  not 
a  fish ;  if  still  alive,  she  must  come  to  the 
surface.  After  watching  for  her  long  and 
anxiously,  they  discovered  a  few  drops  of 
blood.  A  sharp  fin  above  the  waves,  slowly 
moving  seaward,  afforded  a  ready  explana 
tion. 

The  high-priest's  face  lighted  with  savage 
triumph  as  he  cried :  "  Ukanipo,  the  Shark- 
God,  hath  her !  Ku  is  avenged  1" 

So  thought  Eaeakai.  "  Black  death  hangs 
over  me!"  he  wailed.  "Lilii  will  have  no 
kane  to  bring  her  fish  and  poi  and  the  little 
JceiJce  will  be  fatherless  from  its  birth !" 

The  story  of  the  death  of  Hiwa  and  of 
the  unborn  heir  to  the  throne  spread  from 
lip  to  lip  through  the  nation,  and  all  men  be 
lieved  it  and  said,  "  Ukanipo,  the  Shark- 
God,  hath  her!  Ku  is  avenged!"  And  a 
great  fear  fell  upon  them,  the  fear  of  Aa, 
the  terrible  high-priest  of  Ku. 
7 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   VOW 


lay  on  the  ground. 
She  was  about  twenty  years 
fc-f  of   age,   of   regal  stature ; 


for  among  ancient  Hawaii- 
ans  men  and  women  of 
kingly  stock  were  gigantic, 
fully  six  feet  in  height,  with  broad  shoulders, 
deep,  full  bust,  and  huge  hips  and  limbs  that 
indicated  great  vitality  and  enormous 
strength.  Yet  her  figure,  from  the  mighty 
neck  to  the  delicately  shaped  feet,  was  so 
graceful  in  its  outlines,  so  perfect  a  type  of 
beauty  in  a  giantess,  that  it  would  have 
been  a  joy  to  Phydias.  Her  face  was  full 
of  intelligence,  of  firmness,  of  daring,  and  of 
pride;  full  also  of  passion,  of  tenderness,  and 
of  love.  It  was  both  strong  and  beautiful. 
Her  head  was  massive  and  noble,  like  her 


THE    VOW 

body,  and  was  crowned  with  a  glory  of  jet- 
black  hair  reaching  to  her  hips. 

There  was  no  clothing,  not  even  an  orna 
ment,  on  her  person.  Her  soft,  delicate, 
satiny  skin  told  of  luxurious  living.  Ex 
posure  and  pain  and  hardship  were  plainly 
new  to  her,  and  the  mamo,  which  lay  beside 
her,  wet  with  the  brine  of  the  sea,  was  evi 
dence  that  her  rank  among  her  people  was 
like  that  of  the  immortal  gods.  Her  hands 
and  feet  and  arms  and  legs  and  thighs  and 
body  were  bleeding,  terribly  cut  and  torn. 

She  endured  her  wounds  and  the  pangs  of 
maternity  without  a  groan,  her  e}7es  resting 
meanwhile  on  the  wall  of  rock,  two  thou 
sand  feet  high,  that  encircled  her.  A  rivulet, 
flowing  from  the  mountain  above,  fell  over 
the  stupendous  precipice,  and  the  wind, 
eddying  round  and  round  in  the  enormous 
pit,  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano,  spread 
out  the  water  into  a  sheet  of  silvery  spray 
like  a  vast  bridal  veil.  The  sun  was  now  ap 
proaching  meridian,  and  its  rays,  falling 
upon  the  spray,  formed  a  brilliant  rainbow, 
spanning  the  birth-scene. 

As  soon  as  the  child  was  born  the  mother 

9 


clasped  it  in  her  arms  and  exultantly  cried, 
"He  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  fathers, 
for  the  rainbow  covered  him !  Thus  mois 
are  born !" 

Then  she  kneeled  upon  the  ground  and 
stretched  forth  her  arms  in  prayer — "Eternal 
Ku,  thou  who  bearest  sway  over  gods  and 
mois  as  over  common  men,  hear  this  my 
vow !  I  have  sinned,  and  ray  life  is  forfit ; 
but  the  child  is  sinless,  and  if  I  die  now  he 
will  perish.  Spare  mo  to  him  till  he  can 
hurl  the  spears  and  lead  the  chiefs  in  battle 
for  his  throne,  and  I  will  offer  thee  such 
priceless  sacrifice  as  never  yet  was  slain  be 
fore  a  god,  for  I,  the  goddess-queen,  with 
my  own  royal  hand  will  shed  my  sacred 
blood  to  thee." 

As  she  ceased  a  peal  of  thunder  came  from 
the  mountains. 

"  Eternal  Ku,"  she  exclaimed,  "  thou  hast 
heard  and  answered,  and  although  I  die,  my 
child  shall  yet  be  moi,  the  mightiest  of  his 
line !  His  name  is  Aelani,  The  Pledge  from 
Heaven." 


CHAPTER  III 


A   EOYAL   MAKEIAGE 

JIWA,"  said  Papaakahi,  The 
Mighty,  not  long  before 
his  death  and  about  two 
years  prior  to  the  events  al 
ready  narrated,  "you  have 
grown  to  be  a  woman.  It 
is  time  for  you  to  marry." 

"  Yes,  father,"  Hiwa  replied,  "  it  is  time 
for  me  to  marry." 

"  Traditions  have  come  down  to  us  from, 
the  beginning,"  continued  Papaakahi,  "that 
beyond  the  great  ocean  are  many  and 
strange  lands,  kahilci,  and  men  with  white 
skins,  who  are  wise  and  powerful  as  gods. 
There  may  be  a  man  in  these  foreign  lands 
worthy  to  marry  you;  but,  if  there  is,  he 
cannot  come  to  you,  neither  can  you  go  to 
him.  Our  god,  Lono,  dwells  there,  and 
11 


some  time,  ages  hence  perhaps,  lie  will  re 
turn  and  tell  us  of  these  things ;  but  now 
we  know  nothing  of  them.  There  are  only 
three  men  in  the  world  we  know  about 
whose  blood  is  fit  to  mate  with  yours.  I 
am  too  old  to  marry  you.  Your  uncle,  Aa, 
shall  not.  There  is  no  one  else  but  your 
brother,  li." 

"But,  father,"  pleaded  Hiwa,  "I  do  not 
love  li." 

"  That  is  a  small  matter,"  said  Papaa- 
kahi. 

"  But,  father,  I  love  Kaanaana,  and  he 
loves  me.  Why  cannot  I  marry  him  ?" 

"  He  is  not  of  the  blood  of  "Wakea,  and 
Papa,  my  child,  he  is  not  descended  from 
the  gods." 

"  Yet  he  is  a  mighty  Jconohilci,  father,  a 
great  noble,  the  greatest  of  your  vassals, 
and  of  all  the  men  in  the  land  his  blood  is 
next  to  our  own.  Besides,  he  is  young  and 
handsome  and  strong,  first  in  the  games 
and  bravest  in  war,  and  his  spearmen 
won  the  bloody  battle  that  made  you  The 
Mighty." 

"  Yes,  Hiwa,  he  is  all  you  say,  and  I  love 
12 


A    ROYAL    MARRIAGE 


him  better  than  I  love  your  drunken  brother ; 
but  he  is  not  of  the  blood  of  the  gods.  You 
must  marry  li." 

Then,  because  Papaakahi's  word  was  the 
law  of  the  land,  which  not  even  Hiwa 
could  question,  and  because  she  loathed 
marriage  to  her  brother,  and  loved  Kaanaana 
more  than  her  own  life,  she  went  away  by 
herself  and  wept  bitterly.  She  spent  many 
days  in  solitary  places,  weeping  and  longing 
to  die. 

Papaakahi  cared  little  for  his  drunken  son 
li,  and  loved  Hiwa  as  the  apple  of  his  eye, 
and  when  he  saw  how  she  grieved,  his  heart 
was  heavy ;  but  his  purpose  remained  fixed. 
So  he  went  to  her  and  spoke  gently  and  said, 
"  If  you  marry  Kaanaana  it  will  bring  civil 
war  and  your  death." 

"  Father,  why  civil  war  ?" 

"  Because  I  am  old  and  must  soon  be  hid 
den  in  a  cave,  and  your  first-born  son  would 
come  before  any  child  of  your  brother's  as 
hefr  to  the  kingdom.  You  know  our  law ; 
the  child  takes  the  rank  of  its  mother,  in 
stead  of  the  rank  of  its  father,  for  all  men 
know  its  mother  and  no  man  knows  its  father. 
13 


IIIWA 

You  yourself  take  divine  rank  from  your 
mother,  who  was  my  sister." 

Hiwa  shuddered,  and  made  no  reply. 

"Your  brother,"  continued  Papaakahi, 
"spends  his  nights  drinking  awa,  and  his 
days  in  sleep.  He  will  rule  in  name  only. 
Your  uncle  will  be  the  real  moi.  He  hates 
Kaanaana,  and,  if  you  marry  him  and  have 
an  heir,  he  will  raise  the  standard  of  revolt 
as  soon  as  I  am  dead." 

"Then  let  spears  settle  it!"  cried  Hiwa, 
with  flashing  eyes.  "I  do  not  fear  death, 
and  I  love  Kaanaana.  I  will  fight  by  his 
side,  and  we  will  slay  Aa  and  his  army,  for 
the  spearmen  of  Kohala  will  follow  where 
Kaanaana  leads,  and  he  is  greatest  of  the 
warriors,  and  I  am  daughter  of  the  gods." 

"  Ae  Jceike  /"  exclaimed  the  old  man. 
"  But  I  fear  the  great  high-priest  would  pre 
vail,  and  I  will  not  have  my  people  butchered 
and  my  kingdom  destroyed  and  my  daughter 
slain.  Yet  I  would  reason  with  you  rather 
than  command.  I  married  ray  sister  be 
cause  the  ancient  custom  of  our  race  put 
that  duty  upon  me,  she  being  the  only 
woman  of  birth  equal  to  mine ;  but  we  were 
14 


A    ROYAL    MARRIAGE 


not  lolo,  fools,  to  be  unhappy  about  it,  for  I 
loved  other  women,  and  she  loved  other  men. 
You  can  be  a  good  girl  and  marry  your 
brother  without  being  cold  to  your  lover, 
can't  you,  IceiJze  ?" 

But  Hiwa  refused  to  be  comforted. 

The  next  day  Papaakahi  went  to  her 
again  and  asked  her,  "My  daughter,  have 
you  considered  well  ?" 

Hiwa's  eyes  were  hard  and  dry,  as  she 
answered:  "I  have  no  choice.  Thy  word 
is  as  the  word  of  Ku." 

"It  is  well  said!"  exclaimed  the  old  moi. 
"  You  are  a  good  girl,  wise  and  discreet.  li 
shall  be  your  husband,  and  Kaanaana  your 
lover.  I  have  always  loved  you  above  all 
others,  and  next  to  you  I  love  Kaanaana, 
and  would  choose  him  for  your  husband  if 
he  were  of  the  blood  of  the  gods." 

"Then,  father,"  Hiwa  cried,  "if  you  love 
him  and  love  me,  let  me  marry  him !  I 
loathe  the  custom  of  our  race !  I  want  one 
man  as  both  husband  and  lover!  I  had 
rather  be  Kaanaana's  wife  one  hour  and 
then  die  body  and  soul  than  to  marry  li  and 
be  goddess-queen  forever !" 
15 


IIIWA 

"  Hi\va,  pau !  It  is  not  fitting  that  a 
daughter  of  the  gods  should  marry  a  man 
of  mortal  blood.  It  has  been  done  and, 
out  of  my  great  love  for  you,  I  might  con 
sent  to  it  even  now  if  I  could  not  foresee 
war  and  death.  Nothing  could  save  you 
but  Aa's  death.  The  gods,  our  ancestors, 
tell  me  to  kill  him.  It  is  my  unquestioned 
right,  for  I  am  moi,  Lord  of  Life  and  Death ; 
yet  I  cannot  kill  him  —  he  is  my  only 
brother.  Therefore,  and  that  you  may  have 
a  place  to  hide  till  he  is  dead,  I  will  reveal 
to  you  the  secret  of  the  hidden  crater  and 
of  the  passage  to  it  beneath  the  sea." 

Then  Papaakahi  told  Hiwa  of  the  crater 
in  the  mountain  and  how  to  find  the  passage 
to  it,  a  secret  which  no  other  person  living 
knew. 

So  Hiwa  married  li,  and  not  many  months 
afterwards  Papaakahi's  bones  were  hidden  in 
a  cave.  And  so,  too,  when  she  fled  for  her 
life,  she  dived  into  the  sea,  and  of  all  who 
watched  her  not  one  saw  her  rise  again,  and 
the  whole  nation  believed  that  Ukanipo,  the 
Shark-God,  had  taken  her  to  himself. 
16 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  RESCUE   OF   THE  BOAT 


Hawaiian  Islands,  as  all 
the  world  knows,  are  en 
tirely  of  volcanic  origin. 
The  soil,  whether  red  or 
black,  that  produces  a  hun 
dred  tons  of  sugar-cane  and 
fourteen  tons  of  sugar  to  the  acre,  is  lava 
pulverized  by  the  suns  and  rains  of  thou 
sands  of  years.  The  coffee  lands  are  lava, 
rotten,  hone}r-combed,  porous,  to  a  degree 
still  unpulverized,  but  far  on  the  way  to  be 
coming  so.  And  the  recent  flows  show 
what  every  part  of  every  island  has  been  — 
first,  an  overflowing  sea  of  boiling  rock; 
then,  when  the  rock-currents  froze,  weird, 
fantastic,  utter  desolation.  In  the  mighty 
crater  of  Ilaleakala  (The  House  of  the  Sun) 
are  rock-billows  as  they  stiffened  unknown 

B  17 


ages  ago,  rock -billows  five  hundred  feet 
high.  And  smaller  volcanoes,  once  active, 
now  extinct,  are  almost  numberless. 

Jliwa's  refuge  was  the  crater  of  one  of 
these  small,  extinct  volcanoes.  At  some 
time  a  lake  of  boiling  rock,  perhaps  a  mile 
long  and  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide  and 
a  thousand  feet  deep,  forcing  a  subterranean 
exit  to  the  sea,  had  disappeared,  leaving  a 
huge  J)U/M,  a  hole  in  the  mountain,  some 
two  thousand  feet  deep.  As  the  centuries 
came  and  went  the  surface  rock  gradually 
became  soil  of  marvellous  fertility.  Birds, 
flying  across,  dropped  seeds  of  vegetables, 
fruits,  shrubs,  and  trees.  The  place  became 
a  wilderness  of  luxuriant  vegetation.  In 
moist,  eternal  summer  food  for  a  hundred 
mouths  ripened  every  day  in  the  year. 
Nor  was  Hiwa  denied  her  accustomed  food 
from  the  sea,  as  well  as  from  the  land. 
The  makai  or  sea  entrance  to  the  passage 
was  some  three  or  four  fathoms  below  the 
ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide,  but  after  a  few 
rods  its  roof  rose  abruptly  to  a  height  of 
several  hundred  feet,  and  the  passage  itself 
broadened  into  a  large  cavern,  its  bottom 
18 


THE    RESCUE    OF    THE    BOAT 

being  a  salt-water  pool  swarming  with  fish. 
And  the  mountain  rivulet,  after  its  wild 
"  leap  of  two  thousand  feet,  lazily  crawled 
along  the  bottom  of  the  crater  till  it  reached 
the  pool. 

So  Hiwa  and  Aelani  were  safe  from  hun 
ger  and  thirst.  Nature  provided  a  varied 
and  abundant  diet.  They  had  no  need  of 
clothes,  for  the  da}Ts  were  not  hot  nor  the 
nights  cold.  They  had  no  enemies  to  fear. 
No  other  human  being  knew  of  their  refuge 
or  dreamed  of  their  existence.  There  were 
no  wild  beasts  to  attack  them,  no  poisonous 
serpents,  no  snakes  of  any  kind,  no  reptiles 
or  insects  that  could  seriously  injure  or  an 
noy  them.  In  that  age  even  mosquitoes 
were  unknown. 

But  Hiwa  did  not  look  to  a  safe  and  easy 
existence.  She  had  devoted  her  life  to  a 
great  purpose.  She  had  become  more  than 
a  woman,  more  than  a  mother.  Her  son 
was  Aelani,  The  Pledge  from  Heaven.  The 
rainbow  had  covered  him  at  his  birth,  and 
Ku  had  answered  her  irrevocable  vow  with 
thunder  from  the  mountains.  Separated 
from  her  lover,  exiled  from  the  human  race, 
19 


IIIWA 

consecrated  to  death  on  the  altar  of  Ku,  yet 
still  moi  wahine,  believing  herself  goddess- 
born,  and  as  far  above  mere  mortals  as  we 
think  ourselves  above  the  brutes,  her  sole 
remaining  object  in  life  was  to  care  for  her 
child,  to  teach  him  the  accomplishments, 
duties  and  prerogatives  of  a  moi,  to  prepare 
the  way  for  his  return  to  his  people,  and  then 
send  him  forth  to  battle  for  his  throne. 

Her  first  task  was  to  secure  the  fisherman's 
boat. 

It  is  said  that  a  native  woman  on  Kahloo- 
awe  kept  appointments  with  her  lover  on 
Lanai,  swimming  to  meet  him  one  night  and 
returning  the  next,  the  round  trip  being 
nearly  six  miles.  Such  stories  are  accepted 
without  hesitation  by  people  familiar  with  a 
race  which  still  spends  much  of  its  time  in 
the  sea,  and  was  practically  amphibious  un 
til  civilization  changed  its  habits. 

Although  in  swimming  and  diving  Hiwa 
had  proved  herself  a  match  for  Kaanaana, 
the  champion  athlete  of  the  nation,  she  knew 
she  was  undertaking  a  task  dangerous  even 
for  her,  if  not  impossible.  Yet  she  felt  that 
the  boat  was  worth  risking  everything. 
20 


THE    RESCUE    OF    THE    BOAT 

At  break  of  the  day  following  the  birth  of 
her  child,  having  nursed  him  and  tenderly 
laid  him  on  a  soft  bed  of  ferns,  in  the  shade 
of  a  big  Jcoa  tree,  she  swam  forth,  armed 
with  a  sharp  stick  to  protect  herself  from 
sharks.  Sharks,  however,  were  a  matter  of 
small  concern ;  the  danger  lay  in  the  fierce 
waves  and  terrible  cliff. 

She  crossed  the  pool,  dived  through  the 
makai  entrance,  and  struck  boldly  out  to  re 
connoitre.  The  boat,  as  she  anticipated,  had 
been  left,  a  thing  accursed,  to  drift  where  it 
would.  She  found  it,  together  with  the 
paddles,  a  couple  of  miles  to  lea  ward,  wedged 
between  two  rocks.  It  was  uninjured,  but 
dangerously  near  frequented  fishing-grounds, 
and  there  was  no  time  to  lose.  After  an. 
hour  of  hard  work  she  got  it  loose  and 
paddled  swiftly  to  windward.  It  was  neces 
sary  to  load  it  with  small  rocks,  to  make  it 
nearer  the  specific  gravity  of  water,  so  that 
ijt  could  be  floated  or  sunk  at  will ;  but  no 
stones  could  be  had  for  half  a  mile  on  either 
side  of  the  entrance  to  the  crater.  The 
bare,  perpendicular  cliff,  rising  from  deep 
water,  made  it  impossible  to  get  them  at  a 

21 


HIWA 

nearer  point,  and,  when  she  had  gotten  them, 
the  weight  and  unwieldy  bulk  of  her  prize 
made  progress  exceedingly  slow  and  difficult. 
She  struggled  on  for  hours. 

"My  child,"  she  muttered,  "  will  need  this 
boat  before  he  can  be  moi;  and  moi  he  shall 
be,  for  what  the  Ruler  of  the  Gods  promises 
never  fails !" 

A  huge  shark  attacked  her.  As  he  turned 
to  bite  she  jabbed  the  stick  into  his  eye,  and  ho 
disappeared,  leaving  blood  behind.  It  was  a 
moment  of  extreme  peril  to  her  undertaking, 
for  the  incident,  trifling  as  it  was,  came  near 
causing  her  to  lose  the  ballast  from  the  boat. 

At  length  she  neared  the  entrance  to 
the  crater.  The  supreme  test  of  fortune, 
courage,  skill,  and  endurance,  was  at  hand, 
for  the  waves  pounded  against  the  cliff  with 
tremendous  power,  and  the  boat  had  to  be 
sunk  some  four  fathoms  and  steered  through 
a  narrow  passage  of  jagged  rocks,  where  the 
water  sucked  back  and  forth  with  frightful 
velocity. 

"  It  is  impossible  for  a  mortal,"  Iliwa  re 
peated  to  herself, "  but  I  am  daughter  of  the 
gods — and  it  must  be  done !" 
22 


THE    RESCUE    OF    THE    BOAT 


For  some  time  she  lay  quietly  on  her  back, 
just  outside  the  surf -line,  recovering  her 
strength  and  watching  for  her  opportunity. 
When  it  came  she  sank  to  a  depth  of  about 
twenty-five  feet,  taking  the  boat  with  her. 
Then  the  wave  struck  her  and  bore  her 
towards  the  cliff  with  resistless  power.  She 
had  to  keep  the  boat  right  side  up  or  the 
ballast  would  be  lost.  She  had  to  guide  it 
to  the  entrance,  straight  as  a  spear  to  a 
warrior's  heart,  or  it  would  be  dashed  to 
pieces.  She  had  to  make  the  entrance  her 
self  or  be  hurled  against  the  rock,  mangled 
out  of  human  shape.  The  passage  was  small, 
and  certain  death  awaited  her  a  single  yard 
above  or  below  or  to  the  right  or  to  the  left. 

Strength,  skill,  and  fortune  favored  her, 
or,  as  she  would  have  said,  the  will  of  al 
mighty  Ku.  After  two  minutes  of  life  and 
death  struggle  she  entered  the  passage  with 
her  prize,  escaping  destruction  by  a  hair's- 
breadth. 

Then  the  wave  receded,  the  waters  pent 
up  within  poured  back,  and  Hiwa  felt  her 
self  being  irresistibly  sucked  to  the  open 
sea.  With  the  quickness  of  thought  she 
23 


took  a  turn  of  the  ropo  around  a  projecting 
rock,  and  thus  hung  on  until  the  out-going 
current  had  nearty  spent  its  force. 

But  already  she  had  been  four  minutes 
under  water.  The  strain  of  intense  action, 
the  excitement  of  extreme  peril,  and  the 
torture  of  long-suspended  respiration  passed 
away.  The  horrible,  sickening  green  and 
white  of  the  mad  flood  in  which  she  was 
perishing  became  cultivated  lowlands,  rich 
fields,  beautiful  meado\vs,  and  waving  forests 
before  her  eyes,  and  the  wild  surge  and  roar 
seemed  the  loved  voice  of  Kaanaana,  in. 
whoso  arms  she  was  falling  asleep. 

"  This,"  she  said  to  herself,  longingly,  "  is 
the  peace  the  gods  send  to  their  children !" 
Then  the  thought  returned  to  her,  "  If  I  die 
the  child  will  die  also !" 

Even  as  Death  seized  her,  her  unconquer 
able  spirit  flashed  forth,  and  she  tore  herself 
from  his  grasp.  Abandoning  the  boat  for 
the  moment,  she  made  her  way  through  the 
passage  to  the  surface  of  the  pool. 

As  her  lungs  filled  with  air,  the  sweet 
delirium  of  a  water  death  vanished,  and  her 
whole  body  was  racked  with  pain.  But  it 
24 


THE    RESCUE    OF    THE    BOAT 

was  no  time  to  heed  that,  and,  diving  again, 
she  caught  the  incoming  flood  and  saved  the 
boat.  Then,  staggering  to  the  tree  where 
her  baby  lay  half  famished,  she  gave  it  her 
breast  and  fainted. 

Sleep  followed  the  swoon,  the  long,  deep 
sleep  of  utter  exhaustion,  and  then,  after 
many  hours  of  death -like  unconsciousness, 
came  dreams.  She  dreamed  that  Kaanaana, 
lying  beside  her,  with  his  arms  twined 
around  her,  told  her,  between  hot  kisses,  that 
li  and  Aa  were  dead,  and  that  he,  being  of  the 
next  noblest  blood,  could  now  marry  her. 

As  she  uttered  a  cry  of  rapture,  the  dream, 
changed.  She  saw  her  child  and  her  lover 
dead  at  her  feet,  and  her  fierce  uncle  stood 
before  her  with  a  bloody  spear  in  his  hand. 

The  swiftly  succeeding  events  of  the  past 
two  days  came  back  to  her  in  visions  more 
horrible  than  the  reality :  her  sin  against 
Ku,  the  doom  hanging  over  her,  the  flight, 
the  pursuit,  the  escape,  the  maternity,  the 
irrevocable  vow,  and  the  rescue  of  the  boat 
— all  these  facts,  colored  and  intensified  by 
the  ghastly  fancies  that  come  to  us  only  in 
dreams. 

25 


HIWA 

She  awoke  with  a  shiver.  Her  head 
throbbed.  Every  bone  in  her  body  ached. 
Every  nerve  was  pain.  Yet,  for  the  moment, 
superstitious  terror  and  the  reaction  of  a 
noble  but  over-taxed  spirit  were  far  harder 
to  bear. 

Baby  fingers  and  a  plaintive  wail  of  hunger 
aroused  her,  and,  when  the  little  Jceike  was 
again  fed  and  sleeping,  she  arose  and  went 
to  the  boat,  a  few  steps  away,  to  satisfy  her 
bewildered  senses  that  the  day's  work  was 
not  a  dream. 

It  rested  upon  the  beach  of  smooth,  hard, 
white  sand,  the  gift  of  the  coral  insect,  a 
rare  one,  too,  on  the  rock-bound,  windward 
coast  of  Hawaii.  Tiny  waves  murmured  on 
the  shore  as.  softly  as  a  mother's  lullaby. 
The  thunder  of  the  ocean  was  muffled  by  a 
wall  of  eternal  rock,  and  the  mad  rush  and 
swirl  of  waters  in  the  passage  sounded  but 
faintly  from  the  furthermost  recess  of  tho 
cavern.  Save  for  these  distant  sounds  and 
the  occasional  splash  of  a  fish,  the  silence 
of  death  reigned.  All  around  were  black 
walls,  two  thousand  feet  high,  and  over 
head  shone  the  moon  and  the  stars. 
26 


THE    RESCUE    OF    THE    BOAT 


The  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  solitude 
appealed  strongly  to  Hiwa,  child  of  an  im 
pressionable  and  poetic  race,  and  restored 
her  to  her  wonted  frame  of  mind. 

"Eternal  Ku,"  she  cried,  falling  on  her 
knees,  "Ruler  of  Gods,  from  whom  I  am 
descended,  and  to  whom  I  shall  return,  I 
have  rescued  this  boat  through  thy  help.  In 
it  my  child  shall  learn  to  do  such  deeds  as  I 
have  done  this  day.  In  it,  when  he  is  grown, 
he  shall  go  to  meet  the  chiefs  who  will  follow 
him  to  victory.  I  thank  thee,  Ku,  and,  Avhen 
the  time  comes,  I  will  pay  thee  with  my 
blood  according  to  my  vow,  knowing  that 
my  son  is  Aelani,  The  Pledge  from  Heaven, 
and  that  he  shall  yet  be  moi,  mightiest  of 
his  line!" 


CHAPTER  V 


TRAINING   A   WARRIOR 

T  was  well  for  Hiwa  and 
Aelani  that  a  generous  soil 
and  a  soft  climate  gave 
them  food  and  warmth. 
The  separation  from  her 
lover,  the  hardships  of  the 
escape,  the  lacerations  inflicted  by  sharp 
lava  and  thorny  jungles,  the  ordeal  of 
motherhood,  the  rescuing  of  the  boat,  the 
grief  and  suffering,  the  bodily  exhaustion 
and  mental  strain,  concentrated  in  forty- 
eight  hours,  which  Hiwa  had  undergone, 
would  have  killed  any  ordinary  woman. 
And  Hiwa,  of  iron  constitution  as  she  was, 
escaped  a  lingering  death  from  fever,  fatigue, 
and  wounds  almost  as  narrowly  as  a  sudden 
one  from  violence.  For  many  days  she  lay 
tossing  on  her  bed  of  ferns,  sore  from  head 
28 


TRAINING    A    WARRIOR 

to  foot,  bruised  and  strained  and  torn,  aching 
in  all  her  bones,  parched  with  thirst,  at 
times  wildly  delirious.  Yet,  in  her  lucid 
moments,  she  managed  to  nurse  her  babe, 
and  to  pick  wild  fruits  sufficient  to  keep 
herself  from  absolute  starvation.  For  her 
child's  sake  she  fought  hard  for  life  and  won. 
Health  and  strength  returned  to  her. 
»  Then  began  an  existence  much  like  Robin 
son  Crusoe's  on  his  desert  island,  but  with 
out  clothes,  tools,  or  weapons.  It  was  un 
like  Crusoe's  also,  in  that  it  was  cheered  by 
mother-love,  and  inspired  by  a  great  purpose. 
Although  Hiwa  had  been  served  from  in 
fancy  by  chiefs  and  chiefesses,  she  now  did 
a  slave's  work  with  willing  hands.  She 
gathered  grasses  and  made  a  hut — ample 
shelter  from  the  rains.  She  plaited  tapa 
and  wrapped  the  royal  mamo  in  it,  and 
covered  and  sealed  it  with  a  coating  of  gums, 
and  over  all  with  a  coating  of  coral  sand, 
so  that  moths  could  not  get  at  it  or  bees 
bore  it  or  mice  gnaw  it,  and  she  layed  it 
away  in  a  secret  place.  She  also  plaited  tapa 
mats  for  beds  and  coverlets,  and  tapa  gar 
ments  for  herself. 


II I W  A 

Among  the  first  things  she  did,  she  chose 
a  hiding-place  in  the  cavern  for  the  boat, 
and  plaited  a  great  quantity  of  matting,  and 
collected  a  great  quantity  of  gums,  and 
covered  the  boat  and  sealed  it  up,  as  she 
had  scaled  up  the  ma?no,  that  it  might  be 
perfectly  preserved  until  Aelani  should  have 
need  of  it.  The  sealing  of  the  boat  was  the 
work  of  three  months. 

Fire  was  a  prime  necessity.  She  had 
great  difficulty  in  getting  it,  although  she 
was  acquainted  with  the  only  method  known 
to  her  people,  and  had  seen  the  thing  done 
many  times.  Rapidly  and  with  all  her 
strength  she  rubbed  a  pointed  stick  in  a 
groove,  made  in  another  stick  of  the  hau 
tree,  until  at  last  the  fine  combustible  powder 
in  the  end  of  the  groove  ignited.  Then  she 
fanned  it  to  a  flame,  feeding  it  with  dry 
leaves  and  little  pieces  of  wood.  During  all 
her  stay  in  the  crater  she  never  once  allowed 
it  to  go  out. 

She   made  fish-hooks  from  shells,  filing 

them  down  with  a  sharp  stone,  and  braided 

lines  and  nets  from  the  fibre  of  the  olona. 

A  few  minutes'  work  each  morning  supplied 

30 


TRAINING    A    WARRIOR 

her  with  fishes  for  the  day.  Sometimes 
she  cooked  them  in  ti  leaves,  but  more  fre 
quently  ate  them  raw,  as  the  most  refined 
people  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  do  to  this 
day — people  of  pure  white  as  well  as  native 
blood.  Some  varieties  of  fish  are  considered 
great  delicacies  raw.  The  malihini  (new 
comer)  marvels  to  see  ladies  and  gentlemen 
who  would  grace  any  society  in  Europe  or 
America  eating  fish  raw;  but  he  eats  oysters 
raw. 

Fish  and^wi  are  the  Hawaiian  staff  of  life. 
Pol  is  made  from  taro,  one  of  the  most  di 
gestible  and  nutritious  of  vegetables.  Fort 
unately  for  the  exiles,  taro  grew  abundantly 
along  the  swampy  borders  of  the  stream. 
Hiwa  baked  it  under  ground,  on  hot  rocks, 
and  mashed  it  with  a  stone,  and  kneaded  and 
pounded  it  until  it  became  a  soft  dough,  and 
mixed  it  with  water  and  left  it  to  ferment. 
Then  it  \va.spoi,  which  little  Aelani  learned 
to  eat  almost  as  soon  as  his  mother's  milk. 
In  that  barbarous  age,  as  now,  making  poi 
was  considered  too  severe  work  for  women, 
even  for  female  slaves,  and  no  chief  had 
condescended  to  it;  yet  the  goddess-queen 
31 


HIWA 

bent  her  back  to  the  task,  meanwhile  chant 
ing  to  her  child  ancient  meles  that  commem 
orated  the  glories  of  his  ancestors  for  forty 
generations. 

They  were  by  no  means  confined  to  fish 
and  poi.  Baked  bread-fruit,  pounded  up  and 
mixed  with  milk  of  cocoanuts  and  juice  of 
sugar-cane  and  berries,  made  a  luscious  dish 
closely  approaching  a  civilized  pudding.  Any 
quantity  of  fruit  was  to  be  had  for  the  pick 
ing,  and  Hiwa  often  succeeded  in  snaring 
wild  geese,  rich  and  fat  from  their  diet  of 
berries,  and  ducks  that  visited  the  pool. 

Before  Aelani  was  six  months  old  he  added 
to  his  diet  of  mother's  milk  and  poi  large 
yellow  ohias  and  delicious  berries,  the  ohclo, 
the  poha,  and  the  akala,  sweetened  with 
juice  of  sugar-cane.  At  the  end  of  his  first 
year  he  toddled  down  to  the  beach  and 
swallowed  the  tiny  fishes  his  mother  gave 
him,  their  tails  wiggling  as  they  disappeared. 
At  the  end  of  his  third  year  he  swam  like  a 
fish  himself,  and  felt  as  much  at  home  in  the 
water  as  out  of  it.  And  so,  never  seeing  a 
human  form  or  hearing  a  human  voice  save 
his  mother's  and  his  own,  he  grew  to  be  a 
32 


TRAINING    A    WARRIOR 

strong,  supple,  active  boy,  of  brave  spirit 
and  of  thoughtful,  inquiring  mind. 

In  time  there  was  a  work-shop  under  the 
shade  of  the  great  koa  tree,  and  tools — shells 
of  all  sizes  and  shapes,  sharp  stones  that 
served  for  knives,  and  rough  stones  that 
served  for  saws  and  files — and  coral  sand  for 
polishing.  Sticks  and  pieces  of  wood,  heavy 
and  hard  like  iron,  were  selected  with  anx 
ious  care,  and  were  cut  and  fashioned  with 
infinite  labor,  flhva  worked  patiently  with 
the  tools  Nature  gave  her  week  after  week, 
and  at  length  that  task  was  finished — the 
complete  arms  of  a  warrior  of  sizes  adapted 
to  a  boy — a  sling  woven  from  his  mother's 
hair,  long  spears,  pololu,  short  spears,  ihe,  a 
war-club,  newa,  and  a  feather  helmet,  but 
not  of  the  mamo,  the  oo,  or  the  iiwi,  for 
these  were  unattainable.  There  were  also 
blunted  darts,  and  circular,  highly-polished 
disks  of  stone,  swelling  with  a  slight  con 
vexity  from  the  edge  to  the  centre,  such  as 
warriors  used  in  athletic  games. 

Then  a  training,  already  begun,  was  pa 
tiently  continued  month  after  month  and 
year  after  year.  For  two  hours  or  more 
c  33 


HIWA 

each  day  mother  and  son  bo wled  the  disks 
and  fought  sham  battles.  The  teacher 
was  intelligent  and  exacting.  The  pupil 
•was  apt.  He  was  scarcely  more  than  half 
grown  when  he  could  bring  down  a  flying 
bird  with  his  sling,  and,  while  running  at 
full  speed,  could  hurl  spear  after  spear  at  a 
hair's  -  breadth  and  not  miss.  He  could 
catch  spears  faster  than  they  could  be  thrown 
at  him;  he  could  parry  them;  he  could 
avoid  them,  twisting  his  body  like  a  flash  of 
lightning.  He  could  hurl  the  disks  farther 
and  straighter,  run  faster,  leap  higher,  and 
stay  under  water  longer  than  lliwa,  although 
in  training  him  she  had  equally  trained  her 
self.  She  had  been  familiar  with  such  things 
from  childhood,  and  knew  that  in  these  war 
like  feats  her  boy  already  excelled  all  men 
except  Kaanaana.  He  was  also  immensely 
strong  for  his  years,  and  gave  promise  of 
gigantic  stature. 

He  fought  his  first  battle  when  he  was 
eleven.  He  was  sitting,  as  he  had  been 
taught  to  do,  on  a  rock  at  the  bottom  of  the 
pool  spearing  fish,  when  his  mother  dived 
down  and  hastily  beckoned  him  to  the  surface. 
84 


TRAINING    A    WARRIOR 

"  It  is  a  shark,"  she  said  as  soon  as  their 
heads  were  above  water.  "I  am  going  to 
kill  him." 

A  man-eating  monster  eighteen  feet  long 

o  o  O 

was  swimming  leisurely  about,  carrying 
terror  to  smaller  fishes  that  had  thus  far 
found  the  pool  a  safe  refuge  from  sharks, 
and  had  accordingly  congregated  in  large 
numbers.  It  was  the  first  fish  larger  than 
an  ulua  that  Aelani  had  ever  seen. 

"Let  me  kill  him!"  he  eagerly  cried, 
catching  hold  of  the  stick,  sharpened  at  both 
ends,  which  Hiwa  held  in  her  hands. 

For  a  moment,  as  it  seemed  to  Hiwa,  her 
heart  stopped  beating.  The  boy  was  a  mere 
child,  and,  if  he  should  become  frightened 
and  lose  his  wits  at  the  critical  instant,  he 
would  surely  be  bitten  in  twain.  But  there 
was  no  sign  of  fear  in  his  face.  His  eyes 
shone,  and  his  pulses  throbbed  with  the  joy 
of  coming  battle.  "Why  should  not  he  do 
it?  He  was  a  fish  himself  almost,  with 
human  intelligence.  He  knew  the  trick 
perfectly,  for  in  the  training,  in  which  noth 
ing  a  warrior  should  know  was  forgotten,  he 
had  been  exercised  in  it  many  times,  his 

35 


HIWA 

mother  personating  the  shark.  Even  base- 
born  men  faced  sharks  without  fear,  and 
Aelani,  though  but  a  child,  was  Aelani^  The 
Pledge  from  Heaven. 

"He  is  born  to  great  deeds,"  reflected 
Hiwa,  "  and  must  learn  to  do  them.  And 
there  is  no  danger,  for  only  the  God  of 
Sharks  can  swim  before  a  child  of  Wakea 
and  Papa." 

Nevertheless,  she  armed  herself  with  a 
spear  and  kept  near  him. 

The  boy  swam  quietly  out  to  within  a 
few  fathoms  of  the  shark,  and  then  lay  upon 
the  water,  almost  motionless.  The  great 
fish,  thinking  he  had  an  easy  pre3r,  ap 
proached  slowly  and  turned  to  bite.  As  he 
did  so  a  small  hand,  quick  as  lightning, 
thrust  the  stick  between  his  jaws,  and  they 
closed  over  it,  burying  one  sharp  end  in  the 
roof  of  the  mouth  and  the  other  through  the 
great  tongue  into  the  lower  jaw.  The  next 
instant,  with  the  supple  swiftness  of  an  ulua, 
the  child  dived  and  glided  away.  His  work 
was  finished.  He  had  only  to  keep  beyond 
reach  of  the  mighty  tail  threshing  the  water1 
in  death  agony. 


TRAINING    A    WARRIOR 

The  teeth  were  laid  carefully  aside  for  the 
war-club  of  man's  estate,  and  the  bones  were 
preserved  for  fish-hooks  and  other  domestic 
uses.  Soon,  however,  there  was  a  glut  of 
sharks'  teeth  and  bones,  for  the  flesh,  being 
cast  into  the  pool,  attracted  other  sharks, 
and  these,  slaughtered  in  turn,  lured  still 
others  to  a  cannibal  repast  and  a  sudden 
demise.  The  pool  swarmed  with  sharks, 
and  furnished  Aelani  great  sport.  Of  course, 
other  fish  became  less  plentiful.  Yet  there 
were  enough. 


CHAPTER  VI 

HIWA'S    VISIT 

longing  came  upon 
Hiwa  to  see  her  lovrer  once 
more,  and  to  learn  what  was 
taking  place  in  the  king- 
dom.  The  royal  city  was 
only  eight  miles  away,  and 
a  swim  of  that  distance  and  back  again  was 
no  great  feat.  Neither,  as  she  thought, 
would  such  a  visit  be  attended  with  much 
danger. 

So  one  evening,  leaving  Aelani  asleep,  she 
armed  herself  with  a  short  spear  and  swam 
up  the  coast  to  the  Waipio  River.  She 
chanced  to  land  close  to  a  fisherman's  hut. 
The  night  was  warm,  there  being  no  breeze 
from  the  sea,  and  the  fisherman  and  his  wife 
and  their  girl  baby  were  sleeping  on  a  mat 
outside. 

88 


HIWA'S    VISIT 


The  fisherman  was  Eaeakai,  whose  boat 
Hiwa  had  taken.  His  testimony  as  an  eye 
witness  to  her  death  had  turned  aside  Aa's 
wrath  and  saved  his  life.  It  did  not  occur 
to  Hiwa  that  she  had  wronged  him  in  taking 
his  boat.  Neither  had  he  so  regarded  it. 
It  simply  was  his  fate.  2STo  more  do  we 
think  that  we  wrong  bees  when  we  take 
their  honey,  or  beasts  when  we  take  their 
skins.  "We  look  upon  them  as  creatures 
quite  different  from  ourselves,  and  exist 
ing  merely  for  our  own  needs  and  pleas 
ures. 

Hiwa  glanced  at  the  fisherman  and  at  the 
woman  and  child  sleeping  beside  him.  The 
appearance  of  the  latter  arrested  her  atten 
tion.  The  child  was  about  the  age  and  size 
of  Aelani,  and  her  features  were  strikingly 
like  his  and  very  beautiful.  As  Hiwa  looked 
at  the  mother  she  saw  that  she  bore  an  equally 
close  resemblance  to  herself.  The  family 
likeness  was  plain  as  day,  the  blood  of  "Wakea 
and  Papa  through  forty  generations.  Hiwa 
had  heard  of  a  fisher  -  girl  of  marvellous 
beautv,  but  had  never  before  deigned  to 

*/   * 

notice  her.   This,  then,  must  be  that  girl ;  for 
39 


HIWA 


no  other  woman  in  all  the  land  could  be 
compared  with  Hiwa. 

"Beyond  a  doubt,"  she  murmured,  "this 
is  my  half-sister !  Papaakahi,  The  Mighty, 
had  many  loves.  So  had  my  mother;  but, 
if  this  woman  were  my  mother's  child,  she 
could  not  be  a  fisherman's  wife." 

So  Hiwa,  believing  that  the  fisherman's 
wife  was  what  her  lowly  condition  indicated, 
a  king's  daughter  but  not  a  queen's,  dismissed 
the  matter  from  her  mind  as  of  no  conse 
quence,  and  passed  on  to  the  palace  of  li.  It 
was  not  a  single  building,  but,  like  the  es 
tablishments  of  wealthy  Hawaiians  even  to 
this  day,  a  little  village.  The  principal  house 
or  hall  was  raised  on  a  stone  embankment,  a 
wooden  framework  thatched  with  grass. 
Around  it  were  many  smaller  buildings,  used 
for  eating  and  sleeping  purposes  and  store 
houses  and  for  servants,  the  whole  being 
enclosed  by  a  stone  wall.  Men  in  all  stages 
of  intoxication  were  around  the  palace. 
Sounds  of  drunken  revelry  came  from  with 
in.  Shouts  and  snatches  of  song  told  the 
story. 

"  It  is,"  mused  Hiwa,  "  as  Papaakahi  said 
40 


HIWA'S    VISIT 


it  would  be.  li  worships  only  aiva,  and  Aa 
rules  the  land.  One  squanders  the  wealth 
of  the  kingdom,  and  the  other  is  grasping 
and  cruel.  The  time  may  come,  perhaps 
too  soon,  when  the  chiefs  will  be  ready  to 
fight  against  them  both." 

On  this  occasion  the  retainers  of  the  court 
were  too  drunk  to  take  note  of  passers-by, 
and  they  had  become  so  habitually  turbulent 
and  lawless  that  honest  people  avoided  that 
part  of  the  town  after  nightfall.  Hiwa, 
therefore,  had  no  difficulty  in  making  her 
way  undiscovered  to  a  distant  camp.  When 
she  reached  it,  further  progress  was  quite 
another  matter,  for,  although  peace  reigned 
throughout  the  land,  a  considerable  body  of 
men  slept  on  their  arms,  guarded  by  vigilant 
sentinels.  But,  undercover  of  the  night,  and 
talcing  advantage  of  every  hummock  and 
shrub,  Hiwa  noiselessly  crawled  to  the  en 
trance  of  the  great  grass  house  of  the  chief. 
She  found  it  guarded  by  a  man  who  had 
often  admitted  her  in  times  past — .a  warrior, 
brave,  trusty,  and  silent. 

Emerging  from  the  darkness,  she  stood 
before  him  Avith  uplifted  hand.  Instantly 
41 


HIWA 

he  dropped  prone  on  the  ground  with  his 
face  in  the  dust. 

"  Laaraaikahild,"  she  said,  in  low,  soft, 
solemn  tones,  "I  am  the  Spirit  of  Hiwa, 
whom  Ukanipo,  the  Shark  God,  took  to  him 
self.  I  have  come  from  the  other  world  to 
bless  your  master.  Retire  twenty  fathoms." 
Laamaikahiki,  without  a  word  or  a  sign, 
with  his  face  still  in  the  dust,  wriggled 
backwards  like  a  huge  worm.  Iliwa  entered 
the  house. 

Kaanaana  lay  sleeping  on  a  mat,  his  sling, 
spears,  and  war-club  beside  him.  Iliwa  stood 
motionless  for  some  moments,  gazing  upon 
him.  Of  the  two  master  passions  of  her  life 
she  herself  could  not  have  told  which  was 
the  stronger :  love  for  the  man  sleeping  be 
fore  her  eyes,  or  for  her  child  sleeping  in  the 
hollow  of  the  mountain. 

"  Oh,"  she  murmured,  "  how  I  long  to 
feel  his  arms  about  me  and  his  kisses  on  my 
lips !  Death  with  him  is  sweeter  than  life 
without  him.  He  is  ray  life.  If  I  make  my 
self  known  to  him,  he  will  leave  all  and  fol 
low  me  to  the  mountain,  or  muster  his  vassals 
and  hurl  that  drunkard  from  the  throne.  It 

43 


HIWA'S    VISIT 


might  have  been !  But  now  it  cannot  be, 
for  my  sin  would  bring  the  heavy  wrath  of 
Ku  upon  him.  I  am  a  thing  accursed !" 

She  bent  over  him  and  lightly  touched  his 
forehead  with  her  lips.  He  stirred,  opened 
his  eyes,  for  an  instant  looked  wonderingly 
at  her,  and  then,  with  a  cry  of  joy,  sprang 
up  to  clasp  her  in  his  arms. 

The  self-sacrifice  of  love  held  her  to  her 
purpose.  Moving  backward,  she  restrained 
him  with  a  gesture. 

"  I  am  only  Hiwa's  spirit,"  she  said.  "  You 
cannot  touch  me.  Do  not  try.  Yet  I  love 
you  with  all  my  being,  as  I  loved  you  when  I 
was  flesh  and  blood.  I  am  permitted  to 
come  to  you  this  once  from  the  other  world 
to  bless  you.  May  Ku's  eternal  blessings 
rest  upon  you,  my  own,  my  only  love  !" 

Then  she  vanished  into  the  darkness. 

The  next  morning  Aelani  awoke  in  his 
mother's  arms,  and  his  little  body  was  wet 
with  her  tears. 


CHAPTER  VII 

HIWA'S     TEACHINGS 


queens  on  thrones  or  in 
exile  —  indeed,  few  merely 
rich  women  can  command 
such  leisure  as  Hiwa  might 
have  had.  She  had  no  so 
cial  functions,  no  social 
duties.  Even  the  question  of  dress  scarcely 
presented  itself.  Occasionally,  on  wet 
days,  she  put  on  &pau  of  tapa,  and  Aelani, 
when  he  grew  to  be  a  large  boy,  often  wore 
a  malo,  or  girdle,  around  his  loins,  and  some 
times  a  kihei,  or  mantle,  over  his  shoulders. 
Frequently,  however,  mother  and  child  were 
arrayed  more  sumptuously  than  Solomon  in 
all  his  glory,  for,  after  the  charming  custom 
of  their  race,  they  made  wreaths  of  fragrant 
dark -green  matte  and  many -colored  wild 
flowers,  and  decked  each  other  from  head  to 

44 


HIWA'S    TEACHINGS 


foot.  But  this  was  recreation,  not  work. 
The  physical  comforts  of  existence  were  at 
hand  for  the  taking,  and  Hiwa  might  have 
spent  her  days,  as  many  of  her  people  do, 
lazily  floating  in  the  water  or  lounging  in 
the  shade. 

On  the  contrary,  she  was  never  idle.  She 
felt  that  the  few  years  given  her  to  prepare 
her  son  for  his  future  work  and  station 
should  be  improved  to  the  utmost,  for,  as 
soon  as  he  were  grown,  she  could  be  no 
more  with  him,  but  must  pass  from  the 
altar  of  Ku  to  the  gods  from  whom  she 
came.  She  believed  that  a  great  moi  should 
be  a  god  among  men  by  his  attainments  and 
qualities  of  mind,  as  well  as  by  birth,  and 
she  was  well  qualified  to  instruct  Aelani  in 
all  the  learning  and  accomplishments  of  her 
age  and  nation,  for  there  was  no  seclusion  of 
women  among  Hawaiians,  and  she  had  seen 
and  heard  much  both  at  court  and  in  camp. 

She  taught  him  the  national  dances,  Jiula- 
hula.  They  were  extremely  graceful,  ex 
pressing  all  emotions  and  passions.  Some 
were  noble ;  some,  according  to  our  stand 
ards,  were  vile.  She  taught  him  the  sports 

45 


HIWA 

and  the  games  of  chance  and  skill,  at  which 
it  was  customary  to  play  for  high  stakes. 
She  taught  him  to  sing  and  to  play  the 
ukek&)  a  rude  guitar,  which  she  made  from 
bamboo  and  olona. 

She  spent  much  time  in  teaching  him  the 
ancient  meles,  the  unwritten  literature  of  the 
nation,  its  epic  and  romantic  poems  and  love 
songs,  perpetuated  from  generation  to  genera 
tion  by  men  set  apart  for  that  purpose,  for 
in  her  father's  reign  —  before  a  drunkard 
came  to  the  throne — they  were  always  chant 
ed  at  feasts  and  at  human  sacrifices,  and 
when  the  bones  of  great  chiefs  were  hid 
den  in  caves,  and  she  had  learned  them  by 
heart. 

Most  carefully  she  taught  him  the  etiquette 
of  court,  camp,  and  heiau,  the  observance  due 
a  moiy  who  might  stand  in  his  presence,  who 
should  remain  kneeling,  and  who  must  lie 
prostrate  with  their  faces  in  the  dust.  At  the 
same  time  she  strongly  impressed  upon  him 
the  firmness,  self-control,  dignity,  and  conde 
scension  which  should  grace  a  god  among 
men. 

She  told  him  of  the  high  chiefs  and  chief- 
46 


HIWA'S    TEACHINGS 


essess,  the  great  landed  nobility  who  held 
their  possessions  of  the  moi,  and  of  the  lesser 
chiefs  who  held  of  the  great  ones,  substan 
tially  according  to  the  Feudal  System  of 
"Western  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

As  he  grew  old  enough  to  understand 
something  of  the  work  that  was  set  for  him 
to  do,  she  talked  much  about  the  great  men 
of  the  kingdom,  of  their  power,  resources, 
traits  and  peculiarities,  and  of  how  he  might 
most  surely  win  them  to  himself.  She  knew 
them  well,  for  it  had  been  the  wise  policy  of 
her  father  to  keep  them  most  of  the  time  at 
court  under  his  own  watchful  e}Tes.  More 
than  of  any  one  else  she  talked  about  Kaa- 
naana. 

"  He  is  Lord  of  Kohala,  and  a  mighty 
chief,"  she  often  said, "  the  greatest,  noblest, 
bravest,  and  best  in  the  land.  He  is  your 
father,  and  I  love  him  even  as  I  love  you, 
^eiJce,  and  he  loves  me.  "When  the  time 
comes  you  will  give  him  a  token  from  me. 
Then  he  will  proclaim  you  moi,  and  Ku  will 
protect  }^ou  both  in  the  day  of  battle  and 
give  you  the  victory." 

She  told  him  of  the  gods.  "There  are 
47 


HIWA 

three  great  gods,"  she  said — "  Kane,  Ku,  and 
Lono.  Kane  is  greatest  of  the  gods,  the 
almighty  father  and  creator  of  heaven  and 
earth ;  but  he  sleeps  through  the  ages,  and 
gives  no  heed  to  what  is  done  among  gods 
and  men,  and,  therefore,  they  do  not  heed 
him.  Lono  is  so  gentle  and  kind  that  men 
are  not  afraid  of  him,  and  so  they  forget 
him.  Ku  is  active,  masterful,  fierce,  and 
cruel,  and  delights  in  wars  and  human  sacri 
fices,  and  bends  all  things  to  his  will,  and 
rules  alike  among  gods  and  men  ;  so  we 
worship  Ku.  Wakea,  our  ancestor,  is  a 
great  god,  and,  next  to  Ku,  bears  sway  over 
heaven  and  earth ;  and  the  mois  of  his  blood, 
whose  bones  have  been  hidden  in  caves, 
from  the  beginning  down  to  Papaakahi, 
The  Mighty,  are  also  great  gods.  There  are 
lesser  gods — Kanaloa,  Kane's  younger  broth 
er;  JVIilu,  God  of  the  Lower  World ;  Pele,  the 
red-haired  Goddess  of  Volcanoes ;  Kane- 
hoalani,  God  of  the  Sky  ;  Kanehulikoa,  God 
of  the  Sea ;  Kukailimoke,  God  of  War  ;  Mo- 
kuhalii — whom  we  call  Ukanipo — God  of 
Sharks,  and  many  others ;  and  Jcvipuas,  or 
demi-gods,  and  Icini  akua,  or  elves.  Ae 

48 


HIWA'S    TEACHINGS 


Tceike  !  There  are  many  gods,  but  there  is 
no  other  god  like  Lono  !" 

"  Tell  me  about  him !"  exclaimed  Aelani. 

"  He  came  to  us  from  heaven,"  said  Iliwa, 
"  man}7",  many  generations  ago,  in.  the  form 
and  likeness  of  a  man,  and  he  lived  on  earth, 
and  his  mission  was  love.  He  hated  tears 
and  wars  and  human  sacrifices.  He  told 
men  and  women  to  be  kind  to  each  other  as 
they  would  have  others  kind  to  them.  Ho 
taught  the  people  many  things  which  would 
have  made  them  wise  and  happy  if  they  had 
remembered  and  practised  them;  but  they 
forgot  his  good  words  after  he  was  gone,  for 
he  went  away  beyond  the  great  oceans.  He 
will  come  back  to  us  some  time,  but  not 
no\v,  and  meantime  Ku  rules  gods  and  men 
by  fear  alone." 

Year  after  year,  as  they  lay  at  noon  un 
der  the  shade  of  the  great  Icoa  tree,  or  at 
night  under  the  moon  and  the  stars,  Hiwa 
talked  with  Aelani  about  the  rites  and  cere 
monies  of  the  priesthood,  and  the  arts  of 
kahunas,  and  the  traditions  of  her  people, 
about  their  customs  and  ways  of  living, 
about  the  birds  and  beasts  and  fishes,  about 
D  49 


HIWA 

the  country  she  had  seen,  and  the  mountains 
and  streams  and  ocean.  Everything  she 
knew  that  she  thought  might  be  useful  to 
him  when  he  should  go  out  into  the  world 
she  told  him  again  and  again,  until  all  these 
things  became  fixed  in  his  mind.  She  toJd 
him  the  story  of  her  life  and  her  love.  But 
she  said  nothing  to  him  of  her  sin  against 
Ku,  or  of  the  time,  so  close  at  hand,  when 
she  must  shed  her  own  blood  on  Ku's  altar. 
She  also  told  him  much  about  women,  and 
he  often  wondered  if  they  were  very  differ 
ent  from  his  mother,  for  he  imagined  that, 
as  she  alone  of  all  living  women  was  god 
dess-born,  she  must  be  more  beautiful  than 
any  other.  As  he  grew  older,  without 
knowing  why  it  was  so,  he  yearned  to  meet 
a  woman. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
MANOA 

|rWA  repeated  her  visits  to 
"Waipio  many  times  as  the 
years  went  by.  In  her 
anxiety  to  know  the  con 
dition  of  aff all's  she  fre 
quently  ventured  where  she 
was  likely  to  be  seen  and  recognized.  She 
knew  that  she  had  been  recognized  on  sev 
eral  occasions.  By  day  it  might  have  cost 
her  her  life;  but,  appearing  only  at  night, 
when  spirits  were  supposed  to  be  abroad, 
she  was  regarded,  not  as  Hiwa  in  living 
flesh  and  blood,  but  as  the  spirit  of  Hiwa 
that  Ukanipo  had  taken  to  himself.  She 
justly  trusted  to  the  superstition  of  the  peo 
ple  for  safety,  knowing  that  she  had  become 
an  object  of  mortal  terror. 

Sixteen  years  had   passed  since  her  es- 
51 


cape.  li  was  rapidly  nearing  a  drunkard's 
grave,  or,  more  accurately,  the  time  when 
his  bones  would  be  hidden  in  a  cave,  for 
mois  were  not  buried  in  the  ground  like 
common  men.  Aa  had  become  moi  in  all 
but  name,  and  ruled  with  bloody  and  cruel 
hands.  The  masses  groaned  under  his  ruth 
less  exactions.  Many  of  the  lesser  chiefs 
had  been  assassinated  or  sacrificed  on  the 
altars  of  Ku,  and  their  possessions  confis 
cated.  The  great  chiefs  were  becoming 
restive  and  alarmed.  Yet  who  should  take 
up  arms  against  the  Lord  of  Life  and  Death, 
vice-gerent  of  Ku?  li  and  Aa  were  of  the 
blood  of  the  gods.  Hiwa  knew  how  mat 
ters  stood,  and  believed  the  time  for  action 
would  come  soon  if  the  great  nobles  under 
stood  they  could  have  a  leader  of  divine 
birth. 

Aelani  had  not  reached  his  seventeenth 
year — a  mere  smooth-water  swimmer.  The 
pool,  swarming  with  sharks,  was  a  fine  train 
ing  school  for  a  boy  of  twelve ;  but  the 
ocean  was  the  only  proper  place  for  an 
athletic  young  man,  big,  powerful,  destined 
for  great  deeds.  Aelani  had  learned  to  love 

53 


MANOA 

4 

it  in  its  varying  moods,  and  most  of  all 
when  it  was  stirred  to  wrath,  when  tempests 
raged  and  huge  waves  dashed  against  the 
cliffs  and  broke  in  spray  two  hundred  feet 
high.  Many  a  time,  in  calm  and  in  storm, 
Hiwa  and  Aelani  had  sported  together  in 
the  open  sea,  like  the  fish  to  which  they 
were  almost  akin,  but  always  with  the 
greatest  precautions  against  discovery,  for 
the  superstition  which  protected  her  might 
not  protect  him.  Now  the  time  was  at 
hand  when  risks  must  be  taken. 

" Keike"  said  Hiwa,  one  evening,  "we 
will  go  windward  to-night  and  see  your 
royal  city." 

They  emerged  from  the  water,  at  their 
journey's  end,  close  to  Eaeakai's  hut.  On 
this  night  also  the  fisherman  and  Lilii,  his 
wife,  and  Manoa,  their  daughter,  were  sleep 
ing  outside.  The  girl  —  just  past  sixteen, 
which  is  three  years  older  in  the  tropics 
than  in  the  frozen  north — was  surpassingly 
beautiful,  as  her  mother  and  Hiwa  had  been 
in  the  bloom  of  early  womanhood.  She  lay 
in  the  moonlight,  her  lips  half  parted,  smil 
ing  in  her  sleep,  as  if  happy  dreams  were  her 
53 


HIWA 


guests.  Her  lustrous  black  hair,  reach 
ing  in  heavy  masses  half  way  to  her  feet, 
was  her  only  covering.  It  was  not  shame- 
lessness.  Neither  was  it  the  innocence 
of  a  babe.  It  was  Nature  untainted 
and  unpurified  by  what  we  call  civiliza 
tion. 

The  sensations  of  the  young  man  who  had 
never  before  seen  a  female  face  or  form  save 
his  mother's  may  be  imagined  more  easily 
than  described.  He  stood  gazing,  like  one 
in  a  trance. 

" "Well,  keike"  Hiwa  observed  with  a  pe 
culiar  smile,  as  he  reluctantly  followed  her, 
"  at  last  you  have  seen  a  woman !  And  per 
haps  it  is  time  you  should." 

Avoiding  the  town,  they  made  their  way 
to  the  Kukuihaele  side  of  the  valley,  and 
climbed  to  a  height  of  about  five  hundred 
feet.  It  seemed  to  Aelani,  as  the  valley  lay 
spread  before  him,  that  he  had  already  seen 
it  many  times,  it  had  been  described  to  him 
so  well.  To  his  right  was  the  winding  trail, 
the  serpentine  ladder,  that  led  to  the  heights 
of  Kukuihaele,  forming  the  southern  exit  to 
the  outer  world,  and  beyond,  stretching 
54 


northwesterly,  long  lines  of  white  surf  glis 
tened  in  the  moonlight  and  thundered  on 
the  beach.  To  his  left  was  the  mighty 
southern  wall,  and,  at  its  further  end,  the 
stupendous  falls  of  the  "Waipio  River,  six 
teen  hundred  feet  high.  Then  the  wall  bent 
irregularly  to  the  northwest,  apparently  ex 
tending  to  the  Waimano  side ;  but  Aelani 
knew  that  the  valley,  for  a  dozen  miles  more, 
wound  its  way,  a  deep  chasm  in  the  moun 
tains.  He  knew  the  stream  that  traversed 
it,  joining  the  Waipio  River  near  the  sea. 
He  knew  the  rocky  defile  leading  to  the 
southwest,  by  which  an  army  might  some 
time  enter  to  make  him  moi.  He  knew  it 
from  vivid  description,  although  he  could 
not  see  it.  Opposite,  across  the  valley,  the 
Waimano  cliffs,  which  Hiwa  sixteen  years 
before  had  scaled  in  her  flight,  rose  to  an 
altitude  of  three  thousand  feet,  and  below 
them,  in  the  midst  of  rich,  green  lowlands, 
lay  the  royal  town.  In  the  centre  of  the 
town,  distinguished  by  its  size,  was  the  pal 
ace  of  the  moi,  and  near  it  that  of  the  high- 
priest.  Scattered  through  the  valley,  and 
also  distinguishable  by  their  size  and  the 

65 


clusters  of  huts  about  them,  were  the  town 
residences  of  the  great  nobles.  Kaanaana's 
was  on  the  Kukuihaele  side,  not  far  from 
where  Hiwa  and  Aelani  stood.  But  it  was 
empty.  lie  and  his  retinue  had  long  since 
withdrawn  to  his  domains  beyond  the  moun 
tains  of  Ilamakua. 

The  night  was  calm,  and,  as  Hiwa  was 
pointing  out  things  to  be  carefully  remem 
bered,  and  the  houses  of  the  different  chiefs, 
a  wail  arose  which,  spreading  beyond  the 
town,  reached  them  even  where  they  stood. 
It  was  the  mournful  au-we,  passing  from  lip 
to  lip,  at  first  low,  gradually  swelling  to 
loud,  passionate  shrieks,  and  then  subsiding 
to  weird,  blood-curdling  sobs.  A  few  started 
it,  then  hundreds,  then  thousands  took  it  up, 
and  the  mountains  echoed  with  it — "  Au-we! 
Au-we!  Au-we!" 

Hiwa's  face  lighted  with  a  smile  of  joy,  at 
once  savage  and  sublime. 

"That,"  she  exclaimed,  "is  the  wailing 
for  a  dead  moi  !  The  drunkard  has  gone ! 
Our  time  has  come!" 

She  stood  for  some  minutes,  rapidly  form 
ing  plans  of  action.  • 

50 


MANOA 

"  Follow  the  cliff  to  the  beach,"  she  said 
at  last,  "  and  wait  for  me  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river.  It  miiy  be  an  hour.  It  may  be 
more." 

"  I  should  go  with  you,"  urged  Aelani. 

"  I&ike"  she  cried,  "  do  as  I  bid  you ! 
The  Spirit  of  Hiwa  must  appear  at  the  wail 
ing  for  the  dead  moi  to  make  the  hearts  of 
Aa  and  the  hearts  of  his  followers  like  the 
white  milk  of  cocoanuts,  and  the  moi  that 
shall  be  must  not  be  seen  in  his  royal  city 
till  he  comes  to  it  with  the  spearmen  of 
Kohala  at  his  back." 

So  Aelani  followed  the  cliff  to  the  sea  and 
waited  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  But 
Hiwa  crept  through  the  rank  vegetation  of 
the  rich  kuleanas  until  she  reached  the  river, 
and  swam  softly  up  stream  under  the  shade 
of  the  overhanging  bushes  until  she  was 
close  to  the  palace  of  the  moi,  and  there  she 
hid  herself  in  a  clump  of  trees,  a  point  from 
which  she  could  see  and  hear  what  was  tak 
ing  place. 

She  knew  that,  for  the  next  three  days, 
according  to  ancient  usage,  there  would  be 
no  moi,  and  therefore  no  law.  She  knew  the 

57 


HIWA 

nameless  horrors  that  accompanied  the  wail 
ing  for  a  dead  moi,  the  drunkenness,  the 
mutilations,  the  bestial  excesses,  the  wild 
carnival  of  cruelty,  indecency,  and  lust,  and 
the  wiping  out  of  life-long  grudges  with  fire 
and  bloodshed. 

But  the  weak  and  friendless  were  nothing 
to  Aa.  His  followers  were  the  beasts  of 
prey  who  would  revel  in  outrage  and  murder. 
Why  should  he  restrain  them?  Yet  Iliwa, 
in  amazement,  saw  him  send  twenty  picked 
men  in  the  direction  of  the  sea,  and  heard 
him  mention  the  name  of  Manoa.  It  could 
hardly  be  to  murder  her.  The  time  for 
murder  would  be  hours  later,  when  men  were 
frenzied  with  drink.  But,  if  it  were  to  save 
her  from  possibility  of  outrage,  it  was  none 
too  soon. 

Hiwa  dismissed  it  from  her  thoughts  for 
the  moment.  Her  first  purpose  was  to  fill 
the  minds  of  Aa  and  his  followers  with 
superstitious  terror.  The  great  high-priest 
was  as  fanatical  as  he  was  bloody,  and  be 
lieved  in  the  religion  of  which  he  was  the 
official  head.  He  bent  over  the  body  of  his 
nephew,  chanting : 

58 


MANOA 

"Ue,  ue  !    Ua  make  kuu  alii ! 
Ue,  ue  !    Ua  make  kuu  alii  !" 

And  the  assembled  chiefs  took  up  the  re 
frain  : 

"Ue,  ue  !    Ua  make  kuu  alii !" 

A  voice,  low  and  distinct,  came  from  the 
river-bank,  saying : 

"Ue,  ue  !    Ua  make  kuu  alii ! 

Ae !  Dead  is  the  chief  !  The  Spirit  of 
Hivva  comes  from  the  other  world  for  the 
Spirit  of  li,  Ruler  of  Land  and  Sea.  And, 
lo!  the  Spirit  of  Hiwa  prophesies,  and  her 
word  is  the  word  of  a  goddess  who  sees  the 
things  that  have  been  and  the  things  that 
shall  be.  Aa,  The  Bloody,  shall  be  a  mouse 
in  the  day  of  battle,  and  shall  die  a  pig's 
death,  and  his  bones  shall  not  be  hidden  in 
a  cave,  but  shall  be  put  to  open  shame.  And, 
behold!  there  shall  come  a  moi,  The  Chosen 
of  Gods.  At  his  birth  the  rainbow  covered 
him,  and  Ku  thundered  from  the  mountains. 
oSTone  shall  be  able  to  withstand  him,  for  Ku 
shall  go  before  him,  and  behind  him  the  hills 
shall  be  black  with  spearmen." 

59 


HIWA 

Aa's  cruel  face  was  sallow  with  rage  and 
terror,  and  blank  amazement  held  the  chiefs 
spell-bound.  At  length  one  of  them,  bolder 
or  less  superstitious  than  the  rest,  ventured 
to  the  river-bank  whence  the  voice  had 
come.  The  water  flowed  sluggishly  and 
undisturbed.  Far  down  towards  the  sea 
was  a  ripple  that  might  have  been  made  by 
a  fish. 

Hiwa  swam  under  water  for  fifty  yards, 
and  then,  having  risen  to  breathe,  took  an 
other  long  swim  beneath  the  surface.  So 
she  kept  on,  alert  and  invisible.  As  she 
neared  the  hut  of  Eaeakai,  the  fisherman, 
and  raised  her  head,  she  heard  loud  voices, 
shrieks  of  terror,  and  a  cry  as  of  some  one 
in  death  agony.  She  crept  up  under  cover 
of  the  river-bank  and  looked.  Aa's  men 
were  dragging  Lilii  and  Manoa  away  in  the 
direction  of  the  town,  and  Eaeakai  lay  on  the 
ground  with  a  spear-thrust  through  his  body. 

Beneath  caste  and  religion,  which  put  an 
immeasurable  gulf  between  them,  Hiwa  had 
a  woman's  heart.  Besides,  she  remembered 
the  fisherman  had  been  the  means  of  saving 
her  life.  Then  she  was  beginning  to  think 
60 


MANOA 

it  possible  that  Lilii  was  her  mother's  as 
well  as  her  father's  daughter,  and,  if  so, 
Manoa,  being  of  the  blood  of  the  gods,  was 
a  fit  mate  for  Aelani.  As  soon,  therefore,  as 
Aa's  men  were  at  a  safe  distance  she  went 
to  Eaeakai  and  bent  over  him.  But  the 
moment  he  saw  her  he  shrank  from  her  in 
fear,  and,  with  his  last  remaining  strength, 
turned  and  buried  his  face  in  the  dust. 

"  I  do  not  want  to  live,"  he  moaned,  "  for 
they  have  taken  the  joy  of  my  heart  and  the 
life  of  my  life.  But  why  do  you  come — a 
vision  to  me — oh,  goddess?  Leave  me  to 
die  alone !" 

Then  Hi\va  spoke  very  gently  to  him,  and 
tears  stood  in  her  eyes.  "  You  shall  die  in 
peace,"  she  said,  "  and  your  body  shall  be 
buried  in  the  ground  as  becomes  your  de 
gree.  I  cannot  save  your  life,  my  poor  fel 
low;  I  would  if  I  could.  It  may  not  be 
given  me  to  rescue  those  you  love,  but  this 
much  I  promise  you,  I  will  try." 

"  Goddess,"  murmured  the  dying  man,  "  I 
thank  you  with  my  face  in  the  dust." 

"  One  thing  more  !"  cried  Hiwa,  and  her 
voice  grew  stern,  and  her  eyes  flashed.  "  I 
61 


HIWA 

swear  to  you  that  Aa,  who  did  this  thing, 
shall  die  a  pig's  death,  and  his  bones  shall 
not  be  hidden  in  a  cave,  but  shall  be  put  to 
open  shame  !" 

Again  the  fisherman  murmured  his  thanks. 

"But  why  did  he  take  them?"  inquired 
Iliwa,  her  suspicion  becoming  almost  a  con 
viction  that  he  had  a  deeper  motive  than  the 
mere  possession  of  a  young  and  beautiful 
woman. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  replied  Eaeakai. 

"  Who  is  your  wife  ?  Who  was  her  moth 
er?"  Hi wa  demanded,  for  she  saw  that  the 
man's  life  was  fast  ebbing  away. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  he  feebly  answered. 
"  She  was  exposed  and  adopted,  picked  up, 
a  new-born  babe,  the  very  day  the  great 
goddess  who  now  speaks  to  me  was  born." 

"  Who  found  her  ?     Who  picked  her  up  ?" 

Eaeakai  tried  to  answer,  but  the  death 
rattle  was  in  his  throat,  a  convulsive  shud 
der  ran  through  his  frame,  and,  with  his  face 
still  in  the  dust,  he  died. 

Iliwa  swam  to  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
where  she  found  Aelani  waiting.  In  a  few 
words  she  told  him  what  had  happened, 
62 


MANOA 

but  not  what  the  dying  man  had  said. 
She  had  never  before  seen  him.  so  deeply 
moved.  Although  time  pressed  and  a  king 
dom  was  at  stake,  they  returned  and  buried 
the  fisherman  according  to  his  degree,  as  had 
been  promised. 

As  the}''  swam  home  in  the  small  hours  of 
the  morning,  Hi  wa  pondered  on  many  things, 
not  least  on  the  mystery  of  the  fisherman's 
wife  and  daughter.  She  remembered  that 
Lolo,  the  court  jester,  once  asked  her  if  she 
had  seen  her  twin  sister,  and,  when  she 
repeated  the  saying,  that  her  mother  laughed 
and  said  it  was  only  the  quip  of  a  fool ; 
but,  never  hearing  of  it  again,  she  did  not 
believe  it,  although  she  knew  the  custom  of 
her  people,  and  also  that  Lolo  died  that 
night  of  a  broken  head. 

More  kittens  are  drowned  than  grow  up, 
yet  there  is  no  dearth  of  cats.  Infanticide 
was  regarded  in  much  the  same  way  by  the 
ancient  Hawaiians.  No  woman  was  thought 
worse  of  on  account  of  killing  her  babies, 
and  a  large  percentage  of  new-born  children 
were  exposed  to  perish,  or  to  be  picked  up 
and  adopted,  as  chance  might  direct.  Hiwa 
63 


and  Lilii,  therefore,  might  be  twin  sisters, 
and  it  might  have  been  thought  that  twin, 
princesses,  too  divine  to  marry  mortal  men, 
would  cause  state  embarrassments.  The 
more  Hiwa  thought  it  over  the  more  prob 
able  it  seemed. 

"  Aa,"  she  mused,  "  is  old  and  not  fond  of 
women.  He  would  not  do  this  thing  for  the 
girl's  youth  and  beauty.  Ambition  is  his 
ruling  passion,  and  now  that  li  is  dead  it 
blazes  up  in  a  fierce  flame.  If  he  knows,  as 
I  believe,  that  they  are  my  mother's  child 
and  grandchild,  he  means  to  kill  one  to  cut 
off  all  possibility  of  rival  heirs  to  the  throne, 
and  to  marry  the  other.  That  is  why  he 
seized  them  the  moment  my  brother  was 
dead.  If  the  girl  is  Aelani's  cousin  on  my 
mother's  side,  the  boy  shall  have  her  for 
his  wife  in  spite  of  Aa,  for  her  blood  is  di 
vine." 

So  Hiwa,  pondering  on  these  things,  and 
planning  for  the  future,  swam  silentty  home 
ward.  Aelani  swam  in  silence  by  her 
side.  A  new  inspiration  had  come  to  him. 
The  master  passion  of  love  had  taken  a 
mighty  hold  on  him.  Heretofore  he  had 
64 


MANOA 


been  a  patient  and  painstaking  pupil — not 
because  lie  greatly  cared  to  be  a  moi,  but  be 
cause  lie  loved  his  mother.  Now  the  path 
way  to  the  throne  was  his  only  pathway  to 
Manoa. 


CHAPTER  IX 
KAANAANA 

Hiwa  returned  from 
satisfied 

We  the  cravings  of  hunger,  she 
$y^.  lay  down  and  slept  until  the 
shades  of  evening  fell.  She 
slept  fourteen  hours,  and 
then  arose  and  ate  again,  that  she  might 
have  strength  for  her  journey.  She  put  on 
a  pan  of  tapa,  for  it  was  not  seemly  for  her 
to  go  to  the  camp  of  a  great  chief  unclothed. 
Then  she  embraced  Aelani  and  kissed  him, 
and  taking  a  short  spear  to  protect  herself 
from  sharks,  swam  forth  into  the  night. 

She  swam  northwesterly,  down  the  coast — 
that  is,  with  the  prevailing  winds — until  she 
came  to  Kiulii,  which  is  just  beyond  the 
mountains  of  Hamakua  and  on  the  edge  of 
Kohala.  It  was  only  four  or  five  miles ;  but 

66 


KAANAANA 


when  she  reached  Niulii  she  knew  not  wheth 
er  her  journey  was  nearly  ended  or  only  just 
begun,  for  Kaanaana,  not  leaving  the  control 
of  his  affairs  to  others,  travelled  much  with 
in  his  domains.  So  she  went  to  a  hut  and 
wakened  a  fisherman,  who  told  her  that  the 
Lord  of  Kohala  was  camped  not  a  mile  away 
with  a  hundred  fighting  men.  The  fisher 
man  readily  undertook  to  guide  her,  for  there 
seemed  good  prospect  of  reward,  and  also 
because  her  bearing  proclaimed  her  a  person 
of  high  degree,  and  it  was  death  to  refuse  a 
service  to  man  or  woman  of  the  rank  of 
high-chief. 

When  she  drew  near  to  the  camp  she  dis 
missed  him,  telling  him  to  return  on  the 
third  day  for  a  recompense.  Then  she 
walked  boldly  up  to  a  sentinel,  who  chal 
lenged  her.  But  when  he  saw  her  face,  he 
fell  grovelling  in  the  dust,  and  she  said  to 
him,  "  I  am  the  Spirit  of  Hiwa.  Thy  master 
hath  need  of  me."  So  she  passed  on,  and 
the  sentinel  told  it  to  others,  and  it  spread 
through  the  camp,  and  all  wondered  what 
this  great  sign  portended,  for  li's  death  was 
not  yet  known  in  Kohala. 
67 


HIWA 

When  Hiwa  came  to  the  house  Avhere 
Kaanaana  slept  alone,  she  found  it  guarded, 
as  of  old,  by  Laainaikahiki.  He  also  fell 
grovelling  in  the  dust,  and  crawled  away  at 
her  command.  Then  she  entered  the  house 
and  lay  down  on  Kaanaana's  mat,  and  put 
her  arms  around  him  and  kissed  his  lips  and 
cried  for  joy.  So  she  awoke  him.  At  first 
he  thought  it  was  a  dream  or  a  heavenly  vis 
ion  ;  but  when  he  found  that  she  was  indeed 
Hiwa  in  living  flesh  and  blood,  his  happiness 
was  unbounded,  for  he  had  mourned  her  as 
dead  sixteen  years,  and  had  loved  no  other 
woman.  And  she  lay  in  his  arms  all  night, 
and  told  him  everything  that  had  happened, 
save  only  her  sin  against  Ku  and  her  vow. 
She  did  not  tell  him  of  the  sin  lest  he  should 
loathe  her,  or  of  the  vow,  for  she  knew  it 
would  break  his  heart. 

"When  morning  came  Kaanaana  command 
ed  Laamaikahiki  to  wait  on  Hiwa,  for,  al 
though  Laamaikahiki  was  no  longer  lord  of 
broad  lands,  he  was  of  ancient  and  noble 
blood,  and  was  devoted  to  his  chief,  and  had 
the  golden  gift  of  a  silent  tongue ;  therefore 
Kaanaana  chose  him  before  all  others  for 
68 


KAANAANA 


the  honor  of  serving  the  goddess-queen.  But 
Kaanaana,  having  ordered  yellow  stain,  with 
his  own  hands  stained  Hiwa's  garment  the 
royal  color.  Having  done  this,  he  assembled 
his  vassals  and  fighting  men,  all  that  were 
with  him,  and  they  stood,  rank  by  rank,  with 
spears  in  their  hands,  in  front  of  the  house, 
and  their  lord  stood  at  their  head. 

Hiwa  put  on  her  garment,  and  went  out 
and  stood  before  them.  And  Kaanaana  fell 
upon  his  knees,  and  bowed  his  head  to  the 
ground,  and  kissed  her  feet.  The  lesser 
chiefs,  also,  fell  upon  their  knees,  and  bowed 
their  heads  to  the  earth,  and  those  of  low 
degree  lay  prostrate  in  the  dust. 

Then  Hiwa  said  :  "  I  am  Hiwa,  Mol  Wa- 
hine,  daughter  of  Papaakahi,  The  Mighty, 
Child  of  the  Gods.  "When  Aa,  the  wicked 
high-priest,  pursued  me  to  kill  me,  Ukanipo, 
the  God  of  the  Sharks,  rescued  me  and  car 
ried  me  to  a  cavern  in  the  mountains  known 
only  to  himself.  There  I  gave  birth  to  a 
son,  who  is  also  the  son  of  Kaanaana,  your 
high-chief.  The  rainbow  covered  him  at  his 
birth,  and  Ku  thundered  from  the  mountains. 
His  name  is  Aelani,  The  Pledge  from  Heaven, 
69 


HIWA 

The  Chosen  of  the  Gods.  He  is  now  rightful 
moi  kane,  for  li  is  dead.  He  shall  be  might 
iest  of  his  line,  and  none  shall  be  able  to 
withstand  him,  for,  in  the  day  of  battle,  Ku 
shall  go  before  him,  and  behind  him  the 
hills  shall  be  black  with  spearmen." 

Then  Kaanaana  answered :  "  Hiwa,  Moi 
Wahine,  daughter  of  Papaakahi,  The  Mighty, 
Child  of  the  Gods,  it  is  thou  who  hast  said 
it.  No  man  can  doubt  that  Ukanipo,  the 
God  of  Sharks,  rescued  thee,  and  carried  thee 
to  a  cavern  in  the  mountains  known  only  to 
himself.  J^or  is  it  passing  strange,  for  we 
all  do  know  from  the  ancient  meles,  which 
have  come  to  us  from  many  generations  of 
wise  men,  that  Ukanipo  often  did  such  things 
in  olden  times.  li  being  dead,  thy  son  and 
mine  is  moi  Ttane.  His  word  is  as  the  word 
of  Ku.  The  spearmen  of  Kohala  await  his 
commands." 


CHAPTER  X 
"THE  THUNDERBOLT  is  SWIFTER  THAN 

THUNDER " 


wished  to  make  the 
secret  entrance  to  the  crater 
known  to  Kaanaana,  and 
they  both  thought  it  should 
not  be  disclosed  to  any  one 
else.  So  he  accompanied 

her  on  her  return,  the  night  after  her  arrival, 

having  first  given  orders  that  no  one  should 

follow  them  under  pain  of  death. 

They  found  Aelani  awake.     "  Keiki?  said 

Hiwa,  "  this  is  your  father.     His  spearmen 

await  your  commands." 

Then  Kaanaana  kneeled  before  his  son  and 

kissed  his  feet.     But  Aelani  raised  him  from 

the  ground  and  put  his  arms  about  him  and 

kissed  him. 

"  My  father,"  he  said, "  I  love  you  because 
71 


1IIWA 

my  mother  loves  you  better  than  her  own 
life,  and  has  talked  to  me  about  you  every 
day  since  I  was  a  little  child.  While  the 
homage  due  the  moi  cannot  be  omitted  in 
public,  between  us  three  I  am  not  a  god 
among  men,  but  only  }^our  son." 

Then  Kaanaana  embraced  Aelani,  and  the 
two  ate  together,  Hiwa  sitting  not  far  off, 
for  it  was  contrary  to  the  commands  of  Ku 
for  men  and  women  to  eat  together.  After 
the  moi  and  his  father  had  eaten  by  them 
selves,  and  Hiwa  had  eaten  by  herself,  Aelani 
slept  in  the  grass  hut,  and  Hiwa  and  Kaa 
naana  slept  under  the  great  koa  tree,  for  the 
moon  had  gone  behind  the  mountains,  and  it 
was  not  safe  to  attempt  taking  the  fisherman's 
boat  through  the  passage  in  pitchy  darkness. 

It  was  easy,  however,  in  daylight,  for 
there  were  three  of  them  and  a  calm  sea. 
So  they  set  forth  early  in  the  morning  and 
went  to  Niulii.  But  there  were  fishermen 
from  "Waipio  fishing  opposite  the  cliff  who 
fled  home  in  terror,  and  reported  that  they 
had  seen  the  Spirit  of  Hiwa  issuing  from  the 
depths  of  the  sea,  and  with  her  the  Lord  of 
Kohala  and  a  young  man  whom  they  knew 

72 


"SWIFTER    THAN    THUNDER" 

not,  and  that  the  three  had  a  boat  provided 
by  the  God  of  the  Ocean,  exceeding  light 
and  swift,  in  which  they  sped  down  the 
coast.  The  tale  was  taken  straightway  to 
Aa,  and  it  greatly  troubled  him. 

Meanwhile  rumors  had  gone  forth  through 
all  of  Kohala  round  about  Niulii,  and,  when 
Aelani  arrived,  wearing  the  royal  tnamo^ 
thousands  of  people  had  assembled  to  do 
him  homage.  They  were  cooking  a  great 
feast  for  him  in  an  umu  or  underground 
oven  of  hot  stones  —  fatted  dog  and  pig 
which  he  had  never  tasted,  and  taro  and 
bread-fruit,  and  many  kinds  of  Lawalu  fish. 
Also  they  had  prepared  many  kinds  of  deli 
cate  raw  fish,  flavored  with  kulcui  nuts, 
and  crabs  and  shrimps  and  mosses.  There 
were  also  fruits  and  berries,  both  from  the 
lowlands  and  from  the  mountains.  Neither 
was  there  any  lack  of  awa  that  all  might 
drink  and  be  merry. 

But  Aelani,  as  soon  as  he  had  received 
the  homage  of  the  people,  called  a  council  of 
war,  for  time  was  precious,  and  the  thought 
that  Manoa  was  in  the  power  of  his  enemy 
was  like  a  hot  coal  iti  his  breast. 
73 


HIWA 

It  was  only  a  dozen  miles  from  Niulii  to 
Waipio  by  water;  but  Kaanaana  had  not 
war  canoes  wherewith  to  fight  Aa  on  tho 
sea,  neither  had  he  canoes  of  any  kind  to 
carry  a  sufficient  force  of  fighting  men. 
Therefore,  an  attack  on  the  coast  side  would 
have  been  madness ;  but  the  Saw-Teeth  were 
impassable,  and  the  trail  around  them  was 
long  and  difficult. 

"My  Lord  of  Kohala,"  inquired  Aelani, 
"  how  many  spearmen  can  you  have  at  day 
light  to-morrow  morning,  with  provisions  to 
cross  the  mountains  ?" 

"  Kot  more  than  eight  hundred,"  replied 
Kaanaana.  "  But  I  will  have  five  thousand 
on  the  fourth  day." 

"  Eight  hundred  to-morrow,"  said  Aelani, 
"are  better  than  five  thousand  on  the  fourth 
day.  If  Aa  depends  on  Kaaahu,  Lord  of 
Honokaa,  he  leans  on  a  fern  that  will  sway 
back  and  forth  as  the  wind  blows.  Yet  the 
ahupuaa  of  Honokaa  is  the  nearest  of  the 
great  lordships,  and  the  only  one  from  which 
Aa  can  muster  many  spears  before  the  fourth 
day.  We  should  strike  before  any  of  the 
great  chiefs  can  come  to  his  help  from  the 

74 


"SWIFTER    THAN    THUNDER" 

south,  for  we  are  few  at  best,  and  only  a 
small  part  of  the  kingdom." 

Kaanaana  fell  upon  his  knees  and  bowed 
his  head  to  the  ground.  "  Child  of  the 
gods,"  he  said,  "  shall  1  speak  my  manao  ?" 

"  Rise  and  speak !"  exclaimed  Aelani. 
"Thou  art  the  greatest  and  wisest  of  my 
nobles.  Thy  moi  will  ever  listen  to  thy 
manao" 

"  My  manao  is  that  the  great  chiefs  will 
not  hasten  from  the  south.  They  do  not 
love  Aa,  and  will  stand  aloof  if  they  dare,  or 
side  with  us  if  we  seem,  the  stronger.  More 
over,  Aa  has  twelve  hundred  fighting  men  at 
Waipio,  and  Kaaahu  can  bring  him  a  thou 
sand  more  before  we  can  get  there.  Our 
way  is  over  steep  and  difficult  mountains, 
among  sharp  rocks  and  utter  desolation, 
where  mice  would  die  of  hunger  and  thirst, 
and  even  lizards  cannot  live.  Our  spearmen, 
exhausted  with  the  journey,  must  fight  men 
strong  with  rest  and  sleep.  If  we  start  to 
morrow,  we  shall  also  be  greatly  outnum 
bered,  and  if  we  lose  the  battle  not  one  of  us 
will  ever  return.  If  we  wait  till  the  fourth 
day,  and  only  one  or  two  chiefs  come  against 

75 


HIWA 

us  from  the  south,  we  can  meet  Aa  with 
equal  numbers.  Yet  it  shall  be  as  the  moi 
kane  says.  His  word  is  as  the  word  of  Ku." 

"  Kaanaana,  Lord  of  Kohala,"  said  Aelani, 
"  I  thank  thee  for  honest  counsel,  and  I 
would  also  have  the  lesser  chiefs  freely 
speak  their  manao" 

Thereupon  the  lesser  chiefs  fell  upon  their 
knees  and  bowed  their  heads  to  the  earth, 
and  the  foremost  of  them  spoke  for  all  and 
said :  "  The  way  is  most  difficult,  and  eight 
hundred  spearmen  are  not  many,  yet  what 
the  Child  of  the  Gods  says  that  we  will  do, 
whether  it  be  life  or  death.  His  word  is  as 
the  word  of  Ku." 

Then  Hiwa  spoke,  as  was  her  right  in  the 
royal  councils,  being  equal  in  birth  and  rank 
to  the  moi  kane  himself,  although  not  in 
power.  And  she  said :  "  The  Lord  of  Ko 
hala  is  the  wisest  and  greatest  of  the  nobles. 
He  and  the  lesser  chiefs  have  spoken  well ; 
but  fear  now  dwells  in  the  heart  of  Aa  and 
in  the  hearts  of  his  followers.  My  manao 
is  to  strike  before  it  passeth  away,  that  the 
hearts  of  the  chiefs  in  the  south  may  also 
become  like  white  wax  of  cocoanuts,  and 
76 


"SWIFTER    THAN    THUNDER" 


that  they  may  turn  from  him  in  the  begin 
ning." 

"  As  Hiwa  hath  said,  so  be  it !"  exclaimed 
Aelani.  "  We  march  to-morrow  at  break  of 
day.  The  thunderbolt  is  swifter  than  the 
thunder." 

Instantly  fast  runners  were  sent  forth  to 
summon  the  spearmen  and  get  supplies  of 
food.  Then  Aelani  ate  and  drank,  and  the 
chiefs  were  merry,  but  Aelani's  merriment 
was  feigned,  for  he  greatly  feared  for 
Manoa's  safety,  and  was  impatient  for  battle 
because  she  was  in  the  power  of  his  enemy. 


CHAPTER  XI 


OVER  THE   MOUNTAINS 

[IGHT  hundred  and  nineteen 
men,  armed  and  provision 
ed,  were  on  hand  at  day 
break  the  next  morning. 
Aelani  made  a  stirring 
speech,  telling  them  that  li 
was  dead,  and  that  Aa  was  preparing  to  in 
vade  Kohala  to  slaughter  all  the  men  and 
give  their  wives  and  kuleanas  to  strangers. 
And  Kaanaana  told  them  of  their  new  moi, 
rainbow-covered  and  heaven-born. 

The  spearmen  raised  a  great  shout  and 
cried  :  "  His  word  is  as  the  word  of  Ku,  and 
we  will  follow  Kaanaana,  our  high-chief, 
where  spears  are  thickest,  even  unto  death !" 
Hiwa  accompanied  them.  When  Kaa 
naana  privately  remonstrated,  she  replied: 
"  Hardships  and  hunger  and  thirst  are 

78 


OVER    THE    MOUNTAINS 

heaven  with  you,  iny  lover,  and  so  are 
wounds  and  death  ;  but  without  you,  all  the 
world  is  hell  to  me.  "What  mortal  man  can 
do  and  suffer,  that  surely  can  I,  daughter  of 
the  gods.  Moreover,  if  the  chiefs  do  not 
see  me,  whom  they  know,  they  will  say 
that  Aelani,  whom  they  do  not  know,  is 
but  an  impostor.  My  love,  I  must  go  with 
you." 

So  she  went  to  the  war,  and  was  ever  by 
Kaanaana's  side,  save  at  meals,  which  their 
religion  forbade.  Although  li  was  now 
dead,  Kaanaana  did  not  seek  to  be  Hiwa's 
husband,  for  he  loved  her  too  unselfishly  to 
wish  her  to  demean  herself,  being  goddess- 
born,  by  marriage  to  a  mortal.  And  she  did 
not  propose  marriage  to  him,  which  would 
have  been  her  place  by  custom,  she  being  the 
higher  of  rank,  because  she  would  not  involve 
him  in  the  wrath  of  Ku.  She  counted  the 
coming  days  of  suffering  and  battle  as  pre 
cious — every  moment,  because  they  were 
spent  with  him,  for  she  knew  that  as  soon  as 
they  were  over  she  must  leave  him  and  die 
on  the  altar  of  Ku. 

Aelani  marched  with  elastic  steps  at 
79 


HIWA 

the  head  of  his  little  army.  He  ate  plain 
fish  and  poi  like  the  meanest  soldier,  drank 
tepid  but  precious  water  as  sparingly,  and 
bore  the  withering  midday  heat  of  the  lava- 
flows  and  the  cold  night  winds  of  the  moun 
tains  as  if  they  were  the  eternal  June  of  the 
lowlands.  So  also  did  Hiwa  and  Kaanaana, 
knowing  that  where  leaders  share  all  hard 
ships  cheerfully  their  followers  do  not  lose 
heart. 

On  the  evening  of  the  second  day  they 
had  crossed  the  mountains,  and  were  within 
half  a  dozen  miles  of  Waipio.  They  could 
not  take  the  enemy  entirely  unawares,  for 
those  fleeing  before  them  had  carried  the 
news.  Nor  were  they  in  a  condition  to  fight 
that  night,  for  they  were  utterly  exhausted. 
Nearly  fifty  had  dropped  of  fatigue  by  the 
way,  and  three,  falling  over  a  precipice,  had 
been  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  rocks  a  thousand 
feet  below.  The  little  army  camped  in  a 
wood  hard  by  and  slept  till  morning. 

Hiwa  slept  two  hours.      Then  she  awoke 

Kaanaana  with  a  kiss  and  said :  "  I  have 

wakened  you,  my  love,  that  you  might  not 

awake  later  and  miss  me  from  j^our  side.    I 

80 


am  going  to  the  enemy.  Our  scouts,  as  you 
know,  report  the  gleam  of  spears  on  the 
heights  of  Kukuihaele.  It  is  Kaaahu  and 
his  thousand  men  come  to  the  help  of  Aa. 
Our  men  are  outnumbered  three  to  one,  and 
so  worn  out  they  can  hardly  stand.  Some 
of  them  are  dying  of  fatigue,  and  some  have 
already  died." 

"  And  you,  my  love,"  interrupted  Kaanaa- 
na,  "will  also  die  unless  you  sleep  this 
night." 

"No,"  replied  Hiwa,  "I  shall  not  die  of 
fatigue,  nor  yet  of  spear-thrust  from  mortal 
man.  I  shall  live  until  our  son  is  unques 
tioned  moi.  A  goddess  gave  me  life,  and 
only  through  a  god  shall  it  be  taken  from 
me.  My  fate  is  unalterable.  It  is  in  the 
hands  of  Ku.  Pau !  My  love,  you  know 
that  your  spearmen,  exhausted  as  they  are, 
cannot  fight  two  thousand  men.  They  will 
be  slaughtered  like  swine  in  to-morrow's 
battle,  and  our  cause  will  be  lost  unless  I  put 
fresh  fear  in  the  hearts  of  the  enemy." 

Kaanaana  made  no  further  objection, 
knowing  that  her  words  were  true,  and 
that,  unless  she  succeeded  in  her  mission, 
p  81 


HIWA 

they  must  all  die  together.  "When  she  had 
gone,  although  his  heart  was  heavy  on  her 
account,  he  turned  over  and  slept  soundly 
that  he  might  have  strength  for  the  morrow's 
battle.  So  Iliwa  went  forth  and  descended 
the  heights  to  the  Waipio  River,  which, 
even  at  that  distance  from  the  sea,  was  then 
deep  enough  for  swimming.  The  water  and 
the  change  of  motion  greatly  refreshed  her 
bruised  and  bleeding  feet  and  aching  limbs. 
She  passed  the  hostile  sentinels,  swimming 
noiselessly  under  water,  and  kept  on  down 
the  river  to  the  midst  of  Aa's  army. 

Then  Aa's  spearmen,  sleeping  on  their 
arms,  were  awakened  by  a  well-known  voice 
proceeding  from  the  water,  and  it  said: — 
"  Listen  !  The  Spirit  of  Iliwa  bids  you  save 
your  lives.  Why  should  you  die  ?  Behold, 
the  rightful  moi  kane,  Aelani,  The  Pledge 
from  Heaven,  The  Chosen  of  the  Gods,  cometh 
to  his  own !  Ku  thundered  at  his  birth,  and 
the  rainbow  covered  him;  therefore  none 
shall  be  able  to  stand  before  him.  Yet  he 
is  just  and  merciful.  He  will  slay  those  who 
are  taken  with  arms  in  their  hands,  fighting 
against  hirn.  He  will  spare  those  who  stand 

83 


OVER    THE    MOUNTAINS 

aloof.     But  Aa  shall  die  a  pig's  death,  and 
his  bones  shall  be  put  to  shame." 

Then  Hiwa  swam  down -stream  under 
water  so  softly  that  not  a  splash  was  heard 
or  a  ripple  seen,  and  an  hour  past  midnight 
the  same  voice  and  words  were  heard  on  the 
heights  of  Kukuihaele. 

At  dawn  Kaanaana  awoke  and  looked 
upon  Hiwa  sleeping  at  his  side.  She  was 
covered  with  blood,  and  great,  ragged  rents 
were  torn  in  her  flesh,  for  she  had  slipped 
and  fallen  while  descending  from  the  heights 
of  Kukuihaele  in  the  darkness  of  the  night. 
Her  eyes  were  sunken,  her  face  was  gaunt 
with  toil  and  pain,  and  she  slept  like  one 
dead.  Kaanaana  forbade  all  noise  in  that 
part  of  the  camp,  and  made  it  silent  as  the 
grave,  so  that  Hiwa  might  sleep  until  the 
men  were  ready  to  go  forth  to  battle.  Then 
he  awoke  her  gently,  and  she  arose  and  took 
her  place  beside  him  at  the  head  of  the 
warriors,  armed  as  a  warrior,  and  so  she 
marched  to  the  fight. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   BATTLE 

>A  was  brave  as  well  as  cruel. 
He  did  not  doubt  that 
Hiwa's  spirit  had  appeared 
in  his  camp  and  on  the 
heights  of  Kukuihaele ;  but, 
although  it  troubled  him 
greatly,  he  hoped  it  was  a  lying  spirit.  Did 
not  the  whole  nation  know  that  the  moi 
wakine  had  committed  the  unpardonable 
sin  and  had  died  from  Ku's  implacable  wrath, 
which  descends  from  parent  to  child  even  unto 
the  third  and  fourth  generation ?  How,  then, 
could  her  claimant  to  the  throne  enjoy  Ku's 
favor?  And  how  could  he  be  of  the  sacred 
race  which  the  gods  had  sent  from  heaven 
to  rule  men?  Yet  Hiwa's  spirit  had  thrice 
proclaimed  him  as  heaven-born,  The  Chosen 
of  Ku,  and  living  witnesses  had  seen  him 
84 


THE    BATTLE 


and  Hiwa  and  Kaanaana  issue  from  the 
depths  of  the  sea,  where  mortals  unaided  by 
the  gods  would  have  perished.  Superstition 
balanced  superstition.  Men  were  afraid  to 
support  Aelani,  and  afraid  to  fight  against 
him,  lest  the  heavy  wrath  of  Ku  should  fall 
upon  them. 

It  was  not  so  with  the  spearmen  of  Kohala. 
Kaanaana  had  always  believed  that  Aa  in 
vented  the  story  of  Hiwa's  sin  as  a  pretext 
for  hunting  her  to  death,  and  what  the  high- 
chief  believed  was  accepted  in  his  own  do 
mains  without  question.  Had  it  not  proved 
true  ?  "Was  she  not  now  with  them  in  living 
flesh  and  blood  ?  Was  not  the  story  of  her 
rescue  by  Ukanipo,  God  of  Sharks,  reason 
able  and  in  accord  with  the  sacred  meles  that 
had  come  down  from  the  wise  men  of  old  ? 
Most  convincing  of  all,  would  Ku  have  per 
mitted  her  to  live  if  she  had  committed  damn 
ing  sin  1 

Before  the  spearmen  of  Kohala  arrived,  Aa 
succeeded  in  persuading  most  of  his  imme 
diate  followers,  and  also  himself,  that  Hiwa 
was  a  lying  spirit.  He  even  won  over  Kaaa- 
hu,  Lord  of  Honokaa,  who  was  swaying  be- 
85 


HIWA 

tween  opposing  opinions  like  a  fern  in  the 
wind,  and  set  him  and  his  men  in  the  front 
of  battle,  where  they  could  not  easily  run 
away. 

The  old  men,  the  women,  and  the  children 
had  collected  in  thepuukonua.  This  was  a  city 
of  refuge  corresponding  to  those  of  ancient 
Israel.  These  sanctuaries,  some  of  them  very 
large  and  with  accomodations  for  many  peo 
ple,  were  scattered  throughout  the  Hawaiian 
Islands.  Their  gates  stood  always  open,  and 
the  vanquished  warrior,  the  rebel,  the  red- 
handed  murderer,  the  violator  of  talus,  the 
vilest  criminal,  or  the  bitterest  enemy  of  the 
moi  or  of  the  priesthood,  was  safe  when  once 
within  their  sacred  walls.  There  he  offered 
thanks  to  the  gods  for  his  escape,  and,  after 
a  few  days,  was  free  to  depart  under  their 
protection.  It  is  said  that,  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  long  after  the  period 
of  this  story,  Hakau,  The  Cruel,  proposed 
to  slaughter  the  followers  of  his  half-brother, 
Umi,  within  the  sanctuary,  and  was  deterred 
by  the  threatening  vengeance  of  the  gods — 
incidentally,  also,  by  his  own  death,  and  the 
complete  triumph  of  Umi.  Where  did  these 


THE    BATTLE 


people,  so  remote  and  isolated,  get  this  and 
so  many  other  of  the  customs  described  in 
:  the  Jewish  scriptures  ? 

It  was  past  noon  when  the  conflict  began 
— less  than  eight  hundred  tired  men  attack 
ing  twenty-two  hundred  fresh  ones.  But  as 
the  spearmen  of  Kohala  advanced,  amaze 
ment  paralyzed  the  ranks  opposing  them. 
The  moi  wahine,  or  her  spirit,  marched  in 
front,  and  beside  her  strode  a  youth,  wear 
ing  the  royal  mamo,  who  was  the  living 
image  of  Papaakahi,  The  Mighty,  in  his 
younger  days,  but  of  more  gigantic  stature, 
and  handsomer,  and  more  regal  in  his  bear 
ing,  than  even  that  great  conqueror. 

Kaaahu  and  his  men,  crying  that  the  dead 
had  come  to  life,  and  that  Aelani  must  be 
The  Chosen  of  the  Gods,  broke  and  fled 
without  throwing  a  spear.  They  made  their 
way  with  no  great  loss  to  the  heights  of 
Kukuihaele,  and  watched  the  battle  in  safe 
ty.  But,  in  the  confusion,  Aa  and  his  spear 
men  were  forced  back,  and  were  hedged  in 
with  the  cliffs  of  Kukuihaele  at  their  left, 
and  the  river  at  their  right,  and  the  sea  be 
hind  them.  They  could  not  run  away,  and, 
87 


HIWA 

as  they  expected  no  quarter,  they  fought 
with  desperation.  The  odds,  too,  seemed 
greatly  in  their  favor,  for  they  were  picked 
warriors,  many  of  them  nobles,  and  were 
fresh,  and  far  outnumbered  their  assailants. 

But  doubt  and  superstitious  fear  were  with 
them,  while  the  spearmen  of  Kohala  were 
confident  of  victory,  and  forgot  their  weari 
ness  in  the  blood -frenzy  of  battle.  Their 
moi  Tcane  was  at  their  head,  and  beside  him 
the  moi  wahine,  and  Kaanaana,  their  high- 
chief,  the  foremost  warrior  in  the  land.  So, 
although  they  fell  thick  and  fast  before  Aa's 
skilled  spearmen,  they  pressed  on  and  slew 
and  slew  and  slew.  The  moi  kane  and  the 
moi  wahine  and  the  Lord  of  Kohala,  excell 
ing  all  others  in  deeds  of  strength,  and  skill 
and  valor,  were  ever  in  advance,  their  spears, 
dripping  with  blood,  yet  they  received  no 
hurt  so  that  men  said  that  Ku  went  before 
them.  They  continually  strove  to  reach  Aa 
and  kill  him,  for  his  death  would  end  the 
war  ;  but  his  spearmen,  knowing  the  rout  and 
slaughter  that  would  follow,  protected  him 
with  dense  ranks  of  spears. 
,  Then  Aelani  did  a  marvellous  thing,  one 


THE    BATTLE 


that  was  told  in  after  ages,  which  no  man 
could  have  done  without  long  and  patient 
training.  He  hurled  a  spear  over  the  heads 
of  Aa's  men,  fully  seventy  yards,  so  that  it 
struck  Aa  below  the  waist  and  passed 
through  his  body.  Aa  fell,  and  his  warriors, 
supposing  that  he  was  dead,  became  panic- 
stricken,  and,  being  hemmed  in  by  the  cliffs 
and  the  sea  and  the  river,  were  slaughtered 
without  mercy. 

Just  as  the  fighting  changed  into  a  butch 
ery,  Aelani  plunged  into  the  river  and  swam 
across,  and  ran  with  all  his  speed  towards 
Aa's  palace.  He  had  heard  a  shriek,  and, 
looking  that  way,  saw  Manoa  rush  from  the 
palace  in  the  direction  of  his  army,  pursued 
by  three  men  armed  with  spears.  So  he 
hastened  to  her  rescue.  As  he  drew  near  to 
the  men,  they  flung  their  spears  at  him  at 
the  same  moment.  He  evaded  one  of  the 
spears,  and  caught  the  other  two  in  his  hands 
as  he  had  been  taught  to  do  in  his  childhood. 
Then  he  flung  the  two  spears  back,  killing 
two  of  the  men  with  them,  and  the  third  he 
killed  with  a  stone.  Thus  he  saved  Manoa's 
life. 


HIWA 

The  thing  was  the  wickedness  of  Aa,  for, 
knowing  that  Lilii  and  Manoa  were  of  the 
divine  blood  of  Wakea  and  Papa  in  the  fe 
male  line,  he  had  commanded  that  they 
should  be  killed  if  the  battle  went  against 
him,  so  that  the  victor  might  have  no  god 
dess-born  wife.  He  had  assigned  the  murder 
to  the  three  men  he  trusted  most,  and  they 
killed  the  mother  before  the  daughter  escaped. 

The  slaughter  ended  when  darkness  came. 
A  few  of  Aa's  men  scaled  the  heights  of 
Kukuihaele ;  a  few  swam  out  to  sea  and  got 
away ;  a  few  score  swam  across  the  river 
and  reached  the  2>uukomia  and  were  safe, 
but  many  more  were  speared  in  attempting 
it.  The  greater  part  perished.  A  fourth  of 
Kaanaana's  men  perished  also.  In  all  more 
than  a  thousand  men  lay  dead  and  dying  on 
the  field.  The  victorious  survivors,  worn  out 
with  marching  and  slaughter,  sank  on  the 
ground  beside  them  and  slept  until  morning. 

Hiwa  and  Kaanaana  slept  from  dark  till 
dawn;  but  the  young  moi  kane,  who  had 
that  day  won  his  kingdom,  lay  awake  many 
hours,  and  when  sleep  came  to  him  he 
dreamed  of  love,  and  not  of  glory. 
90 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   SACRIFICE 

the  morning  after  the  bat 
tle  word  was  brought  to  the 
palace  that  Aa  had  been 
found  on  the  field  still  alive. 
Aelani  comtnanded  that  he 
should  be  taken  to  the  heiau, 
or  temple,  to  be  sacrificed,  and  that  the  spear 
men  should  be  assembled  there  to  witness 
the  sacred  rites.  So  Aa  was  taken  to  the 
heiau,  and  awaited  the  coming  of  Aelani  and 
Hiwa  and  Kaanaana  and  the  spearmen  of 
Kohala. 

Then  Adam's  servants  put  on  him  the 
great  mamo  that  had  been  the  state  robe  of 
moi  Jcanes  of  the  blood  of  Wakea  and  Papa 
time  whereof  the  memory  of  man  ran  not  to 
the  contrary.  It  reached  from  his  shoulders 
to  his  ankles,  and  enveloped  his  whole  body. 
91 


HIWA 

It  was  made  entirely  of  the  yellow  feathers 
of  the  mamo,  and,  as  the  mamo  was  a  small 
bird,  and  lived  in  the  mountains,  and  was 
wild  and  scarce,  from  being  constantly  hunt 
ed,  and,  moreover,  had  but  few  of  the  sacred 
feathers,  the  collection  of  feathers  for  that 
cloak  had  been  the  life-work  of  nine  genera 
tions  of  hunters.  Aelani  also  wore  a  helmet 
of  the  still  more  priceless  feathers  of  the  oo. 
The  niho  palaoa  was  on  his  neck,  and  in 
his  hand  he  carried  spears  red  with  the  blood 
of  his  enemies. 

Hiwa  wore  a  mamo  like  Aelani's,  broad 
and  long,  extending  to  her  feet,  priceless  as 
the  crown  jewels  of  England.  Upon  her 
head  was  a  lei,  or  wreath  of  yellow  ilima  and 
dark-green  maile,  and,  crowning  all,  a  lei  of 
the  fluffy,  yellow  feathers  of  the  oo,  feathers 
worth  many  times  their  weight  in  gold. 
Kaanaana,  too,  was  richly  clad,  as  became  a 
mighty  high-chief.  A  cloak  of  yellow  and 
red  feathers,  only  less  rare  and  costty  than 
the  mamo,  covered  him  from  head  to  foot, 
and  a  yellow  and  red  helmet  adorned  his 
head. 

Before  they  left  the  palace  Hiwa  embraced 

92 


THE    SACRIFICE 


Aelani  and  Kaanaana,  kissing  them  and 
shedding  tears,  as  if  she  were  parting  from 
them  forever,  so  that  they  greatly  wondered, 
not  dreaming  of  what  was  in  her  mind.  Then, 
when  the  chiefs  had  assembled — all  who  had 
the  right  to  stand  in  presence  of  the  moi — 
Hiwa  made  a  signal  that  Kaanaana  should 
kneel  before  her.  So  he  kneeled  before  her, 
and  she,  in  presence  of  them  all,  took  the 
feather  lei  from  her  head  and  twined  it 
around  his  helmet. 

" Mighty  konohild"  she  said,  " thou  art 
greatest  of  the  chiefs,  noblest  among  men, 
my  own  and  only  love,  the  father  of  my 
child.  Thy  rank  shall  be  above  all  other 
men  not  goddess-born,  and,  in  token  thereof, 
thou  and  the  konohikis  of  thy  line  shall  have 
the  right  to  deck  their  helmets  with  the 
yellow  feathers  of  the  oo  as  long  as  the  sun 
shines  and  water  flows.  I,  Hiwa,  daughter 
of  the  gods,  have  said  it,  and  my  son,  The 
Chosen  of  Ku,  confirms  this  royal  honor." 

The  occasion  of  the  sacrifice  was  a  great 
one,  for  Aa  was  of  the  blood  of  "Wakea  and 
Papa.  Never  before  in  the  solemn  and 
bloody  rites  of  consecrating  a  new  moi  had 

93 


HIWA 

such  an  offering  been  made  to  Ku.  The 
heiau  was  an  immense,  irregular,  stone 
parallelogram,  open  to  the  sky.  The  in 
terior  was  divided  into  terraces,  the  upper 
one  paved  with  flat  stones.  The  south  end 
was  an  inner  court,  the  most  sacred  place, 
corresponding  to  the  Holiest  of  Holies  of 
the  Jews.  Here  were  the  idols,  great  and 
small.  Here  was  the  high-priest's  station. 
Here  the  gods  were  consulted,  and  their 
oracles  made  known.  At  the  entrance  to 
this  court  was  the  sacrificial  altar  of  Ku. 

When  Aelani  and  Hiwa  and  Kaanaana 
and  the  chiefs  and  warriors  had  gathered  in 
the  temple,  and  Aa,  grievously  wounded,  was 
brought  before  the  altar  where  he  had  long 
officiated  as  high-priest,  his  proud  and  cruel 
spirit  flashed  forth,  and  he  said : — "  If  I  had 
won  the  battle  I  would  have  gone  to  Kohala 
and  put  every  man,  woman  and  child  to  the 
spear,  save  Aelani  and  Hiwa  and  Kaanaana 
and  all  of  noble  birth,  whom  I  would  have 
kept  for  the  sacrifice ;  I  would  have  made 
Kohala  fat  with  slaughter;  I  would  have 
drenched  Ku's  altar  with  the  blood  of  the 
goddess-born.  Then  Ku  would  have  had 
94 


THE    SACRIFICE 


more  cause  for  rejoicing  than  in  the  sacrifice 
of  one  old  man.  Yet,  although  my  bones 
will  be  put  to  shame,  I  am  content,  knowing 
that  Ku's  heavy  wrath  will  fall  upon  my 
enemies,  and  that  I  shall  glory  in  their  de 
struction,  and  mock  them  in  the  other  world. 
If  Hiwa  had  been  slain  when  she  committed 
the  unpardonable  sin  against  Ku  his  anger 
might  have  been  appeased ;  but  now  that  it 
has  been  growing  these  sixteen  years,  the 
whole  people  are  doomed,  for  they  are  her 
people  and  her  son's.  Behold  I,  Aa,  high- 
priest  of  Ku,  proclaim  that  his  implacable 
wrath  rests  upon  the  whole  kingdom,  and 
shall  eat  up  its  inhabitants.  My  revenge  is 
sure.  Therefore  I  rejoice,  and  shall  return 
rejoicing  to  the  gods  from  whom  I  came !'' 

As  the  high-priest  ceased  speaking  Kaa- 
naana  sprang  towards  him,  crying  "  Aa,  you 
lie !  You  invented  this  damning  lie  as  a 
pretext  for  slaying  the  moi  wahine  !  Now, 
in  the  hour  of  her  triumph,  you  repeat  it  to 
ruin  her  before  gods  and  men !" 

Hiwa  restrained  him  with  a  gesture,  and 
said  in  a  loud,  clear  voice  that  all  might 
hear :  "  Aa  does  not  lie.  Sixteen  years  ago 
95 


HIWA 

I  forgot  the  law  which  almighty  Ku  gave  to 
Wakea  and  Papa — the  law  creating  the 
sacred  tabu,  which  our  nation  has  kept  age 
after  age,  and  I  ate  of  the  fruit  of  which  Ku 
has  declared,  *  In  the  day  a  woman  eateth 
thereof  she  shall  surely  die.' " 

Upon  hearing  this  confession,  the  high- 
priest  burst  into  a  fierce,  mocking  laugh, 
and  the  spearmen  shrank  back  aghast,  and 
Kaanaana  hung  his  head  in  shame  and  sor 
row. 

But  Hiwa  mounted  the  altar  and  stood 
above  them,  tall,  straight  and  proud,  crowned 
with  ilima  and  maile,  clothed  with  the  royal 
robe  that  only  a  moi  might  wear  and  live, 
holding  a  spear  in  her  hand. 

"  Sixteen  years  ago,"  she  said,  "  I  com 
mitted  the  unpardonable  sin,  and  now  the 
hour  of  my  atonement  has  come.  Ku  spared 
my  life.  Kneeling  under  the  rainbow,  be 
side  my  new-born  babe,  I  confessed  my  sin 
to  him,  and  bound  myself  by  an  irrevocable 
vow  that,  if  he  would  let  me  train  the  boy 
to  lead  the  chiefs  in  battle  for  his  throne,  I, 
Hiwa,  goddess-queen,  with  my  own  royal 
hand,  would  shed  my  sacred  blood  upon  his 
96 


THE    SACRIFICE 


altar.  Ku  heard  the  vow,  and  answered  me 
with  thunder  from  the  mountains.  He  has 
kept  faith  with  me.  Now  I  must  keep  faith 
with  him,  or  else  his  heavy  wrath  will  fall 
on  all  I  love,  on  all  who  follow  me.  There 
fore,  to  save  my  son,  Aelani,  The  Pledge  from 
Heaven,  to  save  his  father,  my  lover,  Kaa- 
naana,  who  is  a  thousand  times  dearer  to  me 
than  life,  to  save  my  people,  whom  I  would 
not  have  destroyed,  I  keep  my  oath  and  lift 
the  curse  of  Ku." 

"With  a  swift  stroke  she  buried  the  spear 
in  her  own  heart. 

Kaanaana  leaped  upon  the  altar,  crying : 
"  Eternal  Ku,  although  I  am  not  goddess- 
born,  I  am  a  great  noble.  Accept  my  life 
also  in  atonement  for  her  sin  !"  He  stabbed 
himself,  and,  falling  on  Hiwa,  died  kissing 
her  dead  lips. 

Then  Laamaikahiki,  wild  with  grief  and 
rage,  thrust  Aa  through  the  throat.  So  the 
high-priest  died  a  pig's  death,  and  his  bones 
were  put  to  shame. 

Hiwa's  bones  and  Kaanaana's  were  hid 
den  in  a  cave,  at  dead  of  night,  by  Aelani 
himself,  for  he  would  not  intrust  this  pious 
G  97 


HIWA 

duty  to  meaner  hands,  that  touch  of  mortal 
might  not  profane  them  so  long  as  the  world 
should  endure.  Hi\va  had  made  such  atone 
ment,  lifting  Ku's  curse  from  all  the  people, 
that  they  revered  her  memory  and  wor 
shipped  her  as  a  goddess  even  as  if  she  had 
not  committed  that  great  sin. 

Aloha,  Hiwa !  She  was  nobler  than  a 
goddess-queen,  for  she  was  one  of  God's 
noblest  creatures  —  a  noble  woman.  Her 
frailties  were  those  of  human  nature  and  of 
the  remote  and  barbarous  land  in  which  she 
lived.  Her  virtues  were  those  of  a  brave, 
generous,  and  lovable  people. 

Aloha,  Hiwa !    Aloha,  nui! 


GLOSSAKY 


THE  spelling  of  Hawaiian  words  is  in  the  main 
phonetic,  according  to  what  is  known  as  the  conti 
nental  method,  with  the  limitation  that  there  are 
only  twelve  letters,  instead  of  twenty-six,  in  the 
alphabet.  Hiwa,  for  example,  is  pronounced,  ap 
proximately,  He-va,  and  Aelani,  I-la'-ny. 

The  following  rules  for  pronunciation  are  taken 
from  Prof.  William  D.  Alexander's  Brief  History 
of  the  Hawaiian  People  : 

The  original  Hawaiian  alphabet,  adopted  by  the 
first  missionaries,  contained  but  twelve  letters,  five 
of  which  were  vowels,  and  seven  consonants,  viz. : 
a,  e,  i  o,  u,  h,  k,  I,  m,  w,  p,  and  w.  The  number  of 
distinct  sounds  are  about  sixteen. 

No  distinction  was  formerly  made  between  the 
sounds  of  k  and  t,  or  between  those  of  I  and  r.  In 
poetry,  however,  the  sound  of  t  was  preferred  to 
that  of  k.  The  letter  w  generally  sounds  like  v 
between  the  penult  and  the  final  syllable  of  a  word. 

A  is  sounded  as  in  father,  e  as  in  they,  i  as  in 
marine,  o  as  in  note,  u  as  in  rwle,  or  as  oo  in 
moon. 

99 


HIWA 

At,  when  sounded  as  a  diphthong,  resembles  the 
English  ay,  and  au,  the  English  ou  in  lewd. 

Besides  the  sounds  mentioned  above,  there  is  in 
many  words  a  guttural  break  between  two  vowels, 
which  is  represented  by  an  apostrophe  in  a  few  com-, 
mon  words,  to  distinguish  their  meaning,  as  Kina'u. 

Every  word  and  every  syllable  must  end  in  a 
vowel,  and  no  two  consonants  occur  without  a 
vowel  sound  between  them. 

The  accent  of  about  five-sixths  of  the  words  in 
the  language  is  on  the  penult.  A  few  of  the 
proper  names  are  accented  on  the  final  syllable,  as 
Paid',  Kiwalao'  and  Namakeha'. 

AA — the  word  has  a  variety  of  meanings,  among 
which  are  a  spiteful  person,  a  raging  flame,  a  rock 
of  rough  broken  lava. 

AE,  KEIKE — yes,  child. 

AELANI — the  pledge  from  heaven,  a  promise 
from  the  skies.  Lani,  heavenly,  heaven-born,  is 
a  common  termination  of  the  names  of  Hawaiian 
men  and  women,  especially  those  of  exalted  rank. 

AHUPUAA — a  large  tract  of  land  under  the  control 
of  a  single  person,  a  lordship. 

AIALO — those  who  eat  at  the  king's  court. 

AKELA — a  berry  much  like  the  American  rasp 
berry. 

ALII-NIAUPIO,  TABU  MOI  WAHINE — freely  trans 
lated,  goddess-queen,  a  female  sovereign  of  divine 
or  semi-divine  lineage,  unapproachable,  sacred,  ab 
solute. 

100 


GLOSSARY 


ALOHA — Aloha,  more  appropriately,  perhaps, 
than  any  other  one  word,  may  be  taken  *as  typical 
of  the  Hawaiian  race.  It  is  the  first  native  word 
the  stranger  learns,  the  common  salutation  on  the 
street,  and  the  last  he  hears  at  parting.  It  signi 
fies  kindly  feeling,  good-will.  It  is  also  used  to 
express  love. 

ALOHA  NUI — great  good-will. 

AU-WE — an  exclamation  of  sorrow,  a  wailing 
cry,  alas. 

AWA — an  intoxicating  liquor  made  from  the 
roots  of  a  plant  of  the  same  name.  It  is  very 
stupefying,  and,  when  drank  to  excess,  causes  the 
skin  to  turn  a  dirty-brown  color,  and  to  crack  and 
flake  off. 

EAEAKAI — the  word,  sometimes  used  as  a  proper 
noun,  means,  covered  with  the  spray  of  the  sea. 

E  MOE  o — the  customary  exclamation  or  com 
mand  to  lie  prostrate  on  the  approach  of  royalty. 

HALE AKAL  A — the  House  of  the  Sun,  an  extinct 
volcano  ten  thousand  feet  high  on  the  Island 
of  Maui.  Its  crater,  over  thirty  miles  in  circum 
ference  and  two  thousand  feet  deep,  is  the  largest 
in  the  world. 

HAMAKUA — the  name  of  a  district  in  the  north 
ern  part  of  the  Island  of  Hawaii. 

HAOLE — a  foreigner.  The  term  is  applied  to 
white  persons,  whether  of  Hawaiian  or  foreign 
birth,  and  is  not  often  used  in  speaking  of 
Asiatics. 

101 


HIWA 

HAWAII — the  large  island,  twice  the  size  of  all 
the  others  combined,  from  which  the  group  takes 
it  name.  It  is  the  second  in  industrial  and  com 
mercial  importance,  and  probably  the  first  in  unde 
veloped  resources. 

HEIAU — a  temple. 

HILO — the  name  of  two  districts,  North  and 
South  Hilo,  on  the  northeastern  side  of  the  Island 
of  Hawaii  and  of  the  chief  town  of  the  island ; 
also  of  the  first  night  in  which  the  new  moon  can 
be  seen,  as  it  is  like  a  twisted  thread  (from  the 
verb  to  twist,  to  spin,  to  turn).  The  new  moon,  a 
crescent,  indicates  the  outline  of  Hilo  Bay. 

HIWA — the  precious  one. 

HULA  HULA — a  dance,  dancers,  dancing,  and 
music.  The  Hawaiian  hula  is  not  necessarily  im 
modest,  but  certain  lascivious  hulas  have  won  a 
world-wide  and  unenviable  notoriety. 

IHE — a  war-club. 

Ii — a  word  that  has  a  variety  of  meanings, 
among  which  are  :  a  selfish  person,  a  cruel  person, 
a  sour  person,  a  collection  of  small  things.  It  is 
often  used  as  a  proper  noun,  as  is  also  the  single 
vowel,  I,  Repeated  three  times  it  forms  another 
word — iii. 

ILIMA — a  shrub  which  bears  beautiful  green  and 
yellow  flowers  ;  also,  the  flowers. 

Iiwi — a  small  red  bird. 

KAANAANA — the  name  of  a  man  or  woman, 
quite  common. 

103 


GLOSSARY 


KAHIKI — foreign  parts. 

KAHLOOAWE — one  of  the  smaller  islands. 

KAHUNA — a  witch-doctor  or  sorcerer;  also,  at 
the  present  time,  a  native  quack. 

KANAKA-WALE — a  landless  freeman. 

KANALOA — one  of  the  gods,  Kane's  younger 
brother. 

KANE — a  male,  applied  equally  to  human  beings 
and  animals ;  also,  the  name  of  one  of  the  great 
gods. 

KANEHOALANI — the  god  of  the  sky. 

KANEHULIKOA — the  god  of  the  sea. 

KAUKIHI— a  small  boat,  a  single  dug-out. 

KEIKE — a  child. 

KIHEI — a  mantle  or  cloak. 

KINI  AKUA — elves. 

KOA — a  hard  wood  in  great  demand  on  account 
of  the  beautiful  finish  which  it  takes. 

KOHALA — North  and  South  Kohala,  the  two 
northern  districts  in  the  Island  of  Hawaii. 

KONOHIKI — a  great  landholder  under  the  moi, 
virtually  a  feudal  lord. 

Ku — the  name  of  the  fiercest  and  most  cruel  of 
the  ancient  gods. 

KUKAILIMOKE — the  god  of  war. 

KUKUIHAELE — the  high  land  adjoining  the 
southeast  of  Waipio  Valley. 

KULEANA — a  small  holding  of  land. 

KUPUA — a  demi-god. 

LANAI — the  name  of  one  of  the  smaller  islands, 
103 


HIWA 

literally,  The  Hump,  from  its  shape ;  the  name  is 
applied  to  a  veranda. 

LAWALU— fish  or  meat  wrapped  in  ti  leaves,  and 
cooked  on  coals  or  hot  stones. 

LEI — a  wreath. 

LILII — usually  spelled  Liilii,  little  one,  small, 
often  added  to  a  name  to  indicate  youth,  or  as  a 
term  of  affection. 

LOLO — idiotic,  a  fool. 

LONG — the  mildest  and  most  benevolent  of  the 
Hawaiian  deities.  The  tradition  was  that  he 
taught  peace  and  good -will,  and  inaugurated  a 
golden  age,  and  that,  when  he  went  away,  he 
promised  to  return  some  time.  When  Captain 
Cook  discovered  the  islands  in  1778  the  natives 
welcomed  him  as  the  long-expected  Lono. 

MAILE — a  beautiful  dark  green  odoriferous  vine, 
alyxia  olive-formia. 

MAKAI — towards  the  sea.  In  the  Hawaiian  Isl 
ands  one  rarely  hears  the  words  north,  south,  east 
or  west,  in  any  reference  to  locality  or  direction. 
It  is  makai,  towards  t je  sea,  mauJca,  away  from  the 
sea,  or  to  windward,  or  to  leeward,  or  the  direction 
is  designated  by  another  place,  as,  for  example, 
Chicago  is  New  York  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  Denver  is  San  Francisco  of  St.  Paul. 

MALO — the  loin-cloth,  formerly  worn  by  men. 

MAMO — a  small  bird  with  yellow  feathers,  for 
merly  sacred  to  royalty.  Hence  a  garment  made 
of  its  yellow  feathers.  The  bird  is  nearly  or  quite 
104 


GLOSSARY 


extinct,  and  the  ancient  robes  that  have  been  pre 
served  have  fabulous  values. 

MANAO — what  one  thinks  or  advises,  an  opinion. 

MANOA — the  name  of  a  beautiful  valley  in  the 
suburbs  of  Honolulu ;  also,  of  an  ancient  or  leg 
endary  princess. 

MAUNA  KKA — the  White  Mountain,  from  the 
snow  that  covers  its  summit  a  great  part  of  the 
year.  It  is  13,805  feet  in  height. 

MAUNA  LOA — the  Long  Mountain,  a  great  volca 
no,  13,675  feet  high.  The  last  eruption  was  in 
July,  1899. 

MKLE — a  poem,  a  song,  a  hymn,  a  chant;  in 
particular,  the  epics  of  the  race,  committed  to 
memory  and  transmitted  from  generation  to  gen 
eration.  Some  of  these  epics  are  supposed  to  be 
hundreds  of  years  old,  and  are  almost  as  unlike 
modern  Hawaiian  as  Chaucer  is  unlike  modern 
English. 

MILU — the  god  of  the  lower  world. 

Moi — a  sovereign  in  whom  is  supreme  authority, 
applied  to  gods  and  monarchs  descended  from 
the  gods ;  but  the  title  was  continued  during  the 
half  century  and  more  that  the  Hawaiian  govern 
ment  was  a  constitutional  monarchy. 

MOKUHALII — the  name  of  the  god  of  sharks. 
On  Hawaii,  he  was  known  as  Ukanipo. 

NKWA — a  feather-helmet. 

NIHO    PALAOA — a   whale-tooth   ornament   worn 
only  by  persons  of  high  rank. 
105 


HIWA 

NIULII — the  southeast  corner  of  North  Kohala, 
adjoining  the  Hamakua  mountains. 

OHELO — a  reddish  -  brown  berry  similar  to  the 
whortleberry. 

OHIA  —  a  deciduous  fruit,  something  like  an 
apple,  but  less  nutritious  and  more  juicy. 

OLONA — a  native  shrub  with  the  qualities  of 
hemp  or  flax. 

Oo — a  small  black  bird  with  tufts  of  yellow 
feathers,  sacred  like  the  mamo. 

PAPA — a  goddess,  wife  of  Wakea. 

PAPAAKAHI — the  first  of  all,  the  highest  in  rank. 

PAU — stop,  hold  your  tongue,  that  is  all,  the 
end. 

PAU — the  ordinary  female  garment  of  ancient 
times,  tapa  cloth  wound  round  the  waist,  and  reach 
ing  to  the  knees. 

PELE — the  goddess  of  volcanoes. 

POHA — a  berry  from  which  a  delicious  jam  is 
made. 

Poi — a  paste  made  from  taro.  It  is  to  Ha- 
waiians  what  wheat  is  to  Europeans,  and  rice  to 
Chinamen. 

POLULU — a  short  spear. 

PUKA — a  hole,  an  entrance. 

PUNA — the  name  of  a  district  at  the  eastern  end 
of  the  Island  of  Hawaii. 

PUUHONUA — a  city  of  refuge. 

TABU — prohibited,  forbidden,  sacred,  devoted  to 
the  gods,  the  mot  or  the  chiefs.  The  tabu,  also 
106 


GLOSSARY 


spelled  kapu,  was  the  controlling  feature  of  the 
ancient  religion.  It  was  oppressive  to  the  last 
degree,  and  was  mercilessly  enforced  by  super 
stitious  terror  and  the  death  penalty.  After  the 
discovery  by  Captain  Cook,  it  gradually  lost  its 
hold  on  rulers,  priesthood,  and  people.  It  was 
officially  abolished  in  1819,  a  few  months  before 
the  arrival  of  the  first  missionaries. 

TAP  A — a  cloth  made  from  the  beaten  bark  of  the 
wauki,  or  mamaki,  or  paper  -  mulberry  or  other 
trees ;  hence,  any  garment  made  of  tapa.  Also 
spelled  kapa. 

"Ua  mau  ke  ea  o  ka  aina  i  ka  pono." 
(The  life  of  the  Jand  is  preserved  by  righteousness.) 
The  national  motto  inscribed  on  the  Hawaiian  coat- 
of-arms.     It  is,  of  course,  of  comparatively  recent 
date,  and  of  missionary  origin. 

"  Ue,  ue  !  Ua  make  kuu  alii ! 
Ue,  ue !  Ua  make  kuu  alii !" 
(Alas  !    Dead  is  the  chief ! 
Alas !    Dead  is  the  chief !) 
The  first  lines  of  an  old  dirge. 

UKEKE — a  rude  musical  instrument,  something 
like  a  guitar. 

UKANIPO — one  of  the  names  of  the  shark-god. 

ULUA — an  excellent  table-fish,  very  active. 

UMU — an  oven,  a  place  for  baking  food. 

WAIIINE — a  female  ;  the  word  used  to  designate 
the  female  sex  whether  of  human  beings  or  ani 
mals. 

107 


HIWA 

WAIPIO — the  arc  of  water,  tbe  name  of  a  pictu 
resque  and  beautiful  valley  among  the  Hamakua 
mountains,  derived  from  the  waterfall.  It  was  a 
royal  residence  for  centuries,  and  has  been  the 
scene  of  many  battles. 

WAKEA  —  a  god  prominent  in  Hawaiian  my 
thology,  the  husband  of  Papa.  According  to 
some  legends,  Wakea  and  Papa  were  the  parents 
of  the  human  race,  or,  at  least,  the  Polynesian 
branch  of  it ;  according  to  other  legends  their  de 
scendants  were  divine,  demi-gods  and  demi-god- 
desses,  like  Hiwa. 

WIKI  WIKI — hurry  up. 


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